Ethiopian authorities admit that more than 50 people were killed in the Sidama incident

The figures are based only on hospital sources and the police said they did not have information about the people who were killed and whose funerals took place in the countryside.

Borkena
July 31, 2019

Nearly two weeks after the incident, security officials in southern Ethiopia reported an official number of people killed during the violence in the Sidama area of ​​the region's nations, nationalities, and peoples. South.

The DW Amharic service of Commander Dagnachew Demissie, the police chief in the area, confirmed that the number of people killed in the Sidama area between 18 July, the day of the beginning of the violence and arrested by the federal security forces on 22 June, is 53.

He added that the number of deaths depended solely on hospital sources and that the police did not know the number of those who had been killed and had not been taken to the hospital.

Last week, it was reported that the number of deaths reported by Sidama opposition was 60.

In addition, according to the police chief of the area, 54 people were injured and 935 suspects are in detention.

Regarding the destruction of properties, the commander confirmed that factories, convenience stores, hotels and residential areas were also attacked and destroyed. The government does not yet have an estimate of the property destroyed and looted, but the police commander said that a committee was working there.

The incident began on July 18 in Hawbada, capital of the regional state, when a group of young ethno-nationalists Sidama (also called Ejeto) clashed with security forces as they decided to proclaim the Sidama 10th Regional State at the time of their casting. outside the legal and administrative requirements of the statute.

The violence then spread to other towns in the region, such as Yirgalem, Hula, Malga, Aleta Wendo and Moricho.

The violence continued for several days, targeting mainly members of the non-sidama ethnic community in the region, to the extent that the regional government had to request an "intervention" from the federal government. Currently, security work in the region is under the command of the command post.

At the same time, the Southern Peoples Democratic Movement (SEPDM), the party that governs the region, announced on Wednesday that it has finalized its meeting on the results of a study on the application for regional statehood in the region. region.

The head of the party's central committee, Moges Balcha, said that the management had reached agreement on the results of the study. He also revealed that there was a consensus among the leaders on the fact that locals needed a consultation on the results of the study.

He added that managing the security crisis in parts of the region was a top priority for the party and that the command post would continue its work on security issues.

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