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Dozens of civilians were shot dead in ethnic clashes in the state of Amhara, northern Ethiopia, a regional official said Friday, calling the attacks a reprisal for acts of violence. earlier.
"The search and rescue missions are still underway to track down the victims and survivors of Monday 's attack, but I can confirm that the death toll is several dozen," said the officer. AFP Geleta Hailu, director of communications in the neighboring state of Benishangul Gumuz.
He did not specify the exact number of deaths, but said that more than 80 people had been injured in the badault on the Gumuz ethnic group in the state.
Ninety had found refuge in a local school.
The gunmen were not identified, but Geleta said that these attacks appeared to be a punishment for the killing of at least 21 people during separate clashes last weekend between ethnic groups Gumuz and Amhara in the state of Benishangul Gumuz.
Houses were also set on fire during this outbreak of violence, which, according to local authorities, began in the form of a conflict between two workers.
Community clashes, usually caused by land conflicts, are common in Ethiopia.
Rapid population growth (105 million people) has increased pressure on agriculture in a country characterized by strong ethnic divisions.
Violence has increased since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in April 2018.
Abiy was commended for his efforts to end the repressive and exclusionary governance that plunged the country into turmoil.
Mbad demonstrations against the government took place more than two years before he was sworn in.
But badysts also badociate the rise in violence with a loosening of the tight control exercised by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in power over regional security forces and administration.
Shortly after Abyy took office, a long-standing conflict over lands in the western Guji and Gedeo areas of southern Ethiopia resulted in ethnic clashes that forced nearly 1.8 million people flee their homes in 2018, the highest displacement rate on the planet.
This violence continued during the first year of Abiy.
Last September, at least 58 people, mostly from ethnic minority groups, were killed in the suburbs of the capital Addis Ababa.
In December, aid groups reported that ethnic violence in western Ethiopia had displaced 250,000 people.
The second most populous country in Africa is divided into nine regions with ethnic borders – an attempt to empower different groups of the nation after the fall of the military junta of the Derg in 1991
However, many groups continue to feel marginalized by the central government and ethnic rivalries have intensified.
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