Ethiopia's Amhara ethnic clashes: Death toll reaches 200
Ethiopia has so many ethnic groups Amhara is among them. Many ethnic Amharas have been killed across Ethiopia since Mr. Abiy came to power in 2018. Ethiopia’s chief ombudsman says the number of people killed in recent clashes between the country's two largest ethnic groups may be as high as 200. Earlier reports said about 50 people had died in fighting between the Amharas and Oromos in the northern Amhara region.
The ombudsman, Endale Haile, said the violence had displaced nearly 330,000 people. He said, "about a quarter of the houses in the town of Ataye had been burned down." Much of the fighting has been in a zone within the Amhara region, mainly populated by Oromos. Earlier in the week, Ethiopia declared a state of emergency in parts of the state.
Questions are being asked about whether elections due in June will take place. Several areas of the country are being torn apart by violence, especially the northern region of Tigray, which has been at war for six months. Protests have continued for the fourth day in Ethiopia’s Amhara state, with thousands denouncing the government’s failure to ensure the safety of civilians.
They started on Monday in Dessie, a town in eastern Amhara, and have spread to all major cities in the region, including Bahir Dar. There have even been demonstrations in the popular tourist destination of Lalibela. Angry protesters have torn down election campaign billboards featuring pictures of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Amhara Media Corporation, which the regional government runs, posted photos on Twitter showing the scale of the demonstrations in two of the towns. While the protests have been triggered by recent violence in two areas in Amhara, they are really the result of long-simmering resentments. “Abiy should be tried in ICC,” read some of the banners held by demonstrators - a reference to the International Criminal Court.
These protests will further increase the pressure on the prime minister and his administration, already facing the significant challenges of solving the crisis in the northern region of Tigray and quelling ethnic-related clashes across the country.
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