Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote on Twitter On Thursday, he sent forces to the western region of Benishangul-Gumuz, where gunmen killed more than 100 people a day earlier.
Why does it matter: Wednesday’s attack on the village of Bekoji is the latest massacre in Ethiopia, as ethnic tensions escalate over land and other resources. Violence has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
What are they saying: “The massacre of civilians in the Benishangul-Gumuz region is very tragic,” Abiy said in a Twitter post translated by Reuters. “The government, in order to solve the root causes of the problem, has deployed a necessary force.”
The whole picture: Ethiopia has faced consistent outbreaks of deadly violence since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was appointed in 2018.
- In the northern region of Tigray, the Ethiopian army fought the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a renegade political faction.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with details about Abiy’s announcement.