The United States on Tuesday voiced revulsion over reports of hundreds of deaths in mass killings in Ethiopia as it renewed a call for a peaceful resolution of differences.
Survivors told AFP that hundreds of people belonging to the Amhara ethnic group were killed over the weekend by rebels in the Oromia region, with bodies still lying on the streets after hours of violence.
For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States was “gravely concerned” by “this horrific act.”
“We also call on all Ethiopians to reject violence, and instead, pursue peaceful dialogue to resolve differences,” Price said in a statement.
“National reconciliation must involve comprehensive, inclusive justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses and violations.”
The Oromia regional authorities said the attack was carried out by the Oromo Liberation Army, which is branded as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government.
But a spokesman for the rebel group blamed the region’s own pro-government militia for the killings and called for an independent investigation.
The violence comes despite guarded hope for a return to peace in northern Ethiopia, where a war that broke out in November 2020 has horrified rights groups and foreign governments, with the United States ending preferential trading status for its longtime ally.
Ethiopia’s government declared a humanitarian truce in March, allowing limited supplies of international aid into Tigray for the first time since mid-December.
Read more:
Hundreds of aid trucks reach Ethiopia’s war-ravaged Tigray
Rights groups accuse Ethiopian regional forces of ethnic cleansing in Tigray
Ethiopia arrests ex-members of Tigray interim government: Ex-official
Also Read
-
Ethiopia state rights body says video shows extrajudicial killings by security forces
Ethiopia’s state-appointed human rights commission said in a statement late on Saturday that a video circulating on social media showed government ... World News -
Witnesses say more than 200 killed in Ethiopia ethnic attack
Witnesses in Ethiopia said Sunday that more than 200 ethnic Amhara have been killed in an attack in the country’s Oromia region and are blaming a ... World News -
Ethiopia’s Abiy says panel formed to negotiate with northern Tigray forces
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Tuesday the federal government had formed a committee to negotiate with the northern Tigray region’s ... World News -
Ethiopia accuses aid agencies of delivering banned equipment to Tigray
Ethiopia called for tighter controls on aid shipments to the country's war-stricken Tigray region as it accused aid agencies of delivering banned ... World News
