More than 800,000 people forced to flee violence in southern Ethiopia

Violence in southern Ethiopia since June has forced over 800,000 people to flee their homes and they need food and other help, according to a UN and government report published on Wednesday

. April about 400 kilometers south of the capital and more than 1.2 million people were forced to flee, reported the report that gave no details of the victims.

"Renewing violence along the border areas of Gedeo and West Guji June … resulted in the displacement of more than 642,152 internally displaced persons in the Gedeo area … and 176,098 displaced persons in the area of West Guji in the region of Oromia. "

Traditional leaders encouraged the return of people to their homes after the initial fighting in April, but many fled again in June, according to the report.

"The security situation has been difficult despite the deployment of the Ethiopian Defense Forces in the region, with reports of continued destruction of homes, other goods, and infrastructure services." [19659007] Ethiopia is an ethnically diverse country of 100 million people and ethnic discontent fueled the protests that led to the resignation. by Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in February

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April and promised political and economic reforms to address the claims of marginalization by a number of ethnic groups, including his own group, Oromos. Reuters reports that more than 200 people were killed in the past month but said the figure was an estimate because a lack of security made confirmation impossible.

Last year, dozens of people died in acts of violence between members of the Somali and Oromo ethnic groups. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes and do not come back

The Ethiopian government coalition has seized power in 1991 and created regional states based on ethnicity. .