Ethiopia’s army kills 42 in response to brutal massacre, officials say

The Ethiopian National Defence on parade in Addis Ababa in September

Credit: Shutterstock

The Ethiopian army has killed 42 people it claims were responsible for massacring more than 100 civilians this week in the west of the country, officials said on Thursday. 

Eyewitnesses and officials said that at least 102 people were killed in a horrific ethnically fuelled pre-dawn massacre in the Metekel zone in the Benishangul-Gumuz early on Wednesday.

The attackers reportedly set fields and homes ablaze, burning people alive as they slept.

News of the massacre comes at a turbulent and dangerous moment in  Africa’s second-most populous nation.

Since early November the federal government and allied regional forces like Eritrea has been conducting a deadly military campaign in the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray to oust the powerful regional government there.

The Tigray conflict has killed thousands and humanitarians estimate more than 1m people have been internally displaced in the northern region itself.

The latest massacre in Benishangul-Gumuz is wholly separate from the conflict. But the conflict has been sucking up the government troops and resources, raising fears of a security vacuum elsewhere in regions prone to deadly ethnic violence.

According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, a government-affiliated body which first reported the massacre, no security forces were stationed in the area when the attack occurred.

 Separately from Tigray, prime minister Abiy Ahmed faces myriad challenges, including attempts to promote national unity in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups.

Ethnic violence has been a significant problem since Mr Abiy was swept to power in 2018 on the back of widespread protests against the old ruling clique.

Many fear the so-called ‘Balkanisation’ Ethiopia — break up of the country along ethnic lines.

Contests over land and resources in Benishangul-Gumuz have spurred violence between ethnic groups, and this week’s massacre was just the latest gruesome atrocity in the region in recent months.    

Mr Abiy said he had sent a “joint force” to the area to “solve the problem.”    

“The Ethiopia Defence Force has destroyed 42 anti-peace forces who attacked civilians yesterday” in the Metekel zone, the regional government said in a statement on Thursday.