Ethiopia region seeks probe into killings near Sudan border

Bloomberg

International investigators should probe the killings of more than 200 people in Ethiopia amid a territorial dispute near the Sudanese border, a regional official said.
The violence occurred in Agew Awi Zone in Amhara state, according to Adigo Amsaya, the deputy president of neighbouring Benishangul-Gumuz state. “Those responsible for this massacre have to be held accountable,” Adigo said by phone from the regional capital, Assosa. No arrests over the killings perpetrated by armed ethnic Amhara youth have been made so far, he said.
Ethiopia is a complex multi-ethnic federation with
more than 80 ethno-linguistic groups. Ethnicity-based conflicts have erupted since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed office over a year ago and initiated ruling party-mandated political and economic reforms.
The conflict began in Benishangul-Gumuz’s Metekel Zone near the border with Sudan following a disagreement over cash between laborers, and flared into ethnic Gumuz killing Amhara there, according to Amhara state’s communications officer, Asemahaghn Aseres. About 45 people have been arrested, said Adigo.
An opposition coalition of which the Benishangul People’s Liberation Movement is a member accused the opposition National Movement for Amhara, also known as NaMA, of training, radicalising, and arming Amhara youth whom they said are increasingly
targeting Benishangul-Gumuz civilians. Christian Tadele, a NaMA executive committee member, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Ethnic nationalists have been seeking to dismantle territorial boundaries set by the ruling coalition in 1992, including a series of Amhara nationalist territorial claims near Sudan’s border with Ethiopia.