The toll of Wednesday’s attack in western Ethiopia continues to mount. According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which previously reported 100 victims, 207 people were killed in the assault led by armed men. This independent body, attached to the government, had announced that residents of Metekel, an area of ​​the Benishangul-Gumuz region, had been attacked by bullets Wednesday before dawn, in their sleep. This attack is the latest in a deadly series in recent months in this area, where people from the Oromo, Amhara – the two most numerous in the country – and Shinasha ethnic groups live. According to local leaders, these attacks are carried out by members of the Gumuz ethnic group and motivated by ethnic factors.
“(The Commission) continues to monitor the situation in Benishangul-Gumuz with the competent authorities and confirms that the toll of the attack which took place (…) in the early hours of December 23, 2020 rose to 207 (dead) “, indicates this text published Friday evening. This report was mentioned Friday by local authorities who were organizing a funeral. “The effort continues to identify the victims with the help of survivors and identity cards,” adds the Commission, adding that the victims, mostly men (133 killed), also include women, children and the elderly.
Thousands of displaced people
The EHRC reiterates its call for the “urgent dispatch of humanitarian aid” and is concerned at the number of displaced persons, noting that more than 10,000 residents of the town of Bekuji Kebele are marching towards the town of Bulen, one of the main areas in the area, which already hosts “thousands” of displaced people. “A witness says that” the town of Bulen is submerged. The roads leading to the city are full of displaced people and their cattle, who are marching towards the city, “” writes the Commission. On Thursday, regional authorities announced that the Ethiopian army had killed 42 gunmen accused of participating in the massacre, without specifying who they were.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who described the attack as a “tragedy”, attributed the violence in the area in October to fighters from the neighboring Sudanese state of Blue Nile, where they are “armed and trained” and called Khartoum to solve the problem. He said Thursday that this latest attack was intended “to disperse the large force” mobilized as part of the ongoing military operation in Tigray (north), a conflict a priori unrelated to the violence in Benishangul. Gumuz.
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