ADDIS ABABA – Gunmen killed more than 100 people in an attack in western Ethiopia on Wednesday (23), the national human rights body said, the latest in a series of deadly assaults in the area.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a government-affiliated but independent body, said in a statement late on Wednesday that “more than 100 people have been killed in fires and shooting perpetrated by armed men” in the Benishangul-Gumuz region.
The commission said survivors had “disturbing photo evidence of the attack” which started in the pre-dawn hours “on sleeping residents” in the region’s Metekel zone and continued until Wednesday afternoon.
At least 36 others were being treated for bullet and arrow wounds in a hospital in Bulen, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) from where the attack occurred, the commission said.
“In addition to the damage inflicted on people’s lives and bodies, crops have been set alight. One victim told us he saw 18 such fires,” the statement read.
There was “no police or security force” stationed in the area at the time, the commission said, though army personnel were sent to the area on December 22 to calm tensions but had left soon after.
Some of the victims of the attack said they knew their assailants, the commission said, adding that humanitarian should be sent to the region to assist the displaced and wounded.
– Agence France-Presse