Violence in southern Ethiopia | defenceWeb

The violence in southern Ethiopia since June has forced more than 800,000 people to flee their homes and they need food and other help, according to a report from the United Nations and the government. South of the capital and more than 1.2 million people have been forced to flee, said the report without details of the victims. "The renewed violence along the border areas of the Gedeo and West Guji areas since early June has resulted in the displacement of more than 642,152 internally displaced persons in the Gedeo area and 176,098 displaced persons in the western Guji area. The region of Oromia said.

Traditional chiefs encouraged the return of people to their homes after the first fighting in April, but many fled again in June, according to the report. [19659004] "The security situation has been difficult despite the deployment of the Ethiopian Defense Force in the region, with reports of continued destruction of homes, other goods and service infrastructure," he said. One million people and ethnic discontent fueled the protests that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April and promised political and economic reforms to deal with complaints of marginalization by a number of ethnic groups, including his own group, the Oromos.

Diplomats told Reuters that more than 200 people were killed last month, but said the figure was an estimate because a lack of security made confirmation impossible.

Fighting is one of many ethnic conflicts fueled by land claims in Ethiopia, Africa's second largest country in terms of population.

Last year, dozens of people died in violence between Somali and Oromo ethnic groups. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and have yet to return.

The Ethiopian ruling coalition took power in 1991 and created regional states based on ethnicity in a federal republic.