21 People Killed in Ethnic Clashes in Ethiopia

Repeated clashes have been threatening Ethiopia’s delicate balance. In this October 2017 photo, demonstrators protest against the clashes.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

At least 21 people have been killed in two days of fighting between ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia, the state-affiliated Fana radio reported on Friday, 14 December.

The violence broke out near the town of Moyale, on the border with Kenya, in a region claimed by both the Oromo, the largest ethnic group in the country, and the Somali ethnic group.

On top of the fatalities, 61 people were injured in the fighting, Fana reported, citing the Oromia regional state communication office.

Many more were displaced by the fighting in the region which has regularly been the scene of inter-communal violence.

Last year, fighting between members of the two ethnic groups left more than a million people displaced.

While Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has received international praise for his reformist agenda since coming to power in April, a wave of inter-communal violence in several parts of the country – mostly over land issues – has marred the first few months of his rule.

Three Ethiopian students were also killed and 34 others injured after a fight on a campus escalated into deadly ethnic clashes in the west of the Horn of Africa country, the government said on Wednesday.

(Published in an arrangement with PTI.)