GUNMEN KILL 34 PEOPLE IN BUS ATTACK IN WEST ETHIOPIA

Sun 15 November 2020:

Gunmen killed at least 34 people in a “gruesome” attack on a passenger bus in west Ethiopia, a part of the country that has recently seen a spate of deadly assaults on civilians, the national human rights body said Sunday.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said the number of people killed was likely to rise after what it called a “gruesome” attack on the passenger bus in the Benishangul-Gumuz region. It said there were reports of “similar” attacks, and of people fleeing the violence, in other parts of the region.

There is no known link between the violence in Benishangul-Gumuz and military operations in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, which have killed hundreds and sent more than 20,000 people fleeing over the border into Sudan.

Opposition politicians have described the violence in Benishangul-Gumuz as ethnically motivated.

Specifically they say there is a targeted campaign by ethnic Gumuz militias against ethnic Amhara and Agew living in Metekel.

The violence comes amid a 12-day-old war between the Ethiopian government and the restive Tigray region in the country’s north. Experts say that conflict could encourage other ethnic groups to exploit the chaos to push for more autonomy, while the redeployment of forces to Tigray could leave other regions exposed.