ADDIS ABABA: At least 40 people were killed by security forces in eastern Ethiopia at the weekend, a senior regional official said on Monday.

"The victims were all ethnic Oromos. The perpetrators were members of a paramilitary force," said Negeri Lencho, spokesman for the Oromiya state administration.

The area has been plagued by instability. </s> ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - At least 40 people were killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia over the weekend, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions, a senior regional official said on Monday.

The unrest along the border of the country’s Somali and Oromiya provinces has displaced nearly a million people.

On Monday, the Oromiya regional administration’s spokesman Negeri Lencho said “heavily-armed” members of a paramilitary force from the Somali region had carried out cross-border attacks in Oromiya’s East Hararghe district.

“We still do not know why Liyu forces raided the areas on Saturday and Sunday,” he said, referring to the paramilitary soldiers.

“But we know that all the victims were ethnic Oromos. At least 40 were killed in the attacks.”

A week earlier, mobs looted properties owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali region’s capital Jijiga. The central government said the unrest had been stoked by regional officials who had fallen out with central authorities trying to address rights abuses in the region.

He said the officials claimed the government was illegally forcing them to resign, and that paramilitaries had taken part in the attacks under their orders.

Officials in Oromiya blamed the Liyu force for repeated attacks last year. Authorities in the Somali region were not immediately available for comment.

Ethnic violence has spread since protests broke out in the Oromiya region over land rights in 2015. Hundreds were killed by security forces over a two-year period. </s> ADDIS ABABA - At least 40 people were killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia over the weekend, a senior regional official said on Monday, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions.

Unrest first broke out along the border of the country's Somali and Oromiya provinces in September, displacing nearly a million people, though the violence had subsided by April.

On Monday, the Oromiya regional administration's spokesman Negeri Lencho said heavily armed members of a paramilitary force from the Somali region had carried out cross-border attacks in Oromiya's East Hararghe district.

"We still do not know why Liyu forces raided the areas on Saturday and Sunday," he said, referring to the paramilitary soldiers. "But we know that all the victims were ethnic Oromos. At least 40 were killed in the attacks."

A week earlier, mobs looted properties owned by ethnic minorities in the Somali region's capital Jijiga. The central government said the unrest had been stoked by regional officials who had fallen out with central authorities trying to address rights abuses in the region.

The spokesman said the officials had said the government was illegally forcing them to resign, and that Liyu forces had taken part in the attacks under their orders.

The forces are seen as loyal to the region's leader Abdi Mohammed Omer, who has since resigned.

Authorities in the Somali region were not immediately available for comment.

Ethnic violence has spread in the diverse country of 100 million people, where anti-government protests broke out in the Oromiya region over land rights in 2015. Hundreds were killed by security forces over a two-year period.

The violence is the biggest domestic challenge facing reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed, who took office in April.

In a separate incident, a stampede among thousands who attended a visit by a prominent political activist in the town of Shashemene killed three people on Sunday, officials from the Oromiya regional government said.

The event was held to mark the return to Ethiopia of Jawar Mohammed, an activist who had been in exile in the United States but played a key role in mobilizing Oromo youths through social media.

Amid the chaos, another person was beaten to death by a mob after rumors circulated he had carried a bomb, residents said.

"Police did not take action while all that took place," the witness told Reuters. "It is an example of the lawlessness that is taking root in the country." </s> ADDIS ABABA (ETHIOPIA): At least 58 people were killed during a weekend of ethnic violence in Ethiopia's capital, an Amnesty International researcher told AFP on Wednesday, citing a figure more than double the government estimate of 23 dead.

Another source involved in the investigation, who saw and counted the corpses, told AFP a total of 65 people had been killed, mostly in the city's western suburbs.

"The 65 cases are from Burayu, Ashewa Meda, Kolfe and Kirkos," said the source on condition of anonymity, referring to three western areas and one in the centre.

The victims were either stabbed or died after being beaten with sticks and rocks.

None had been shot and the toll does not include five alleged looters killed by police on Monday.

Fisseha Tekle, a Nairobi-based researcher with Amnesty International, said he had compiled a similar tally of 58 dead.

Residents told Amnesty International they saw "eight dead bodies on Friday, 21 on Saturday, on Sunday they saw about 11 people and on Monday the number of dead bodies they've seen were 18," Fisseha said.

Government spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment.

The violence began last week in the run-up to Saturday's return of the once-banned Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group that returned to Ethiopia following political reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
At least 40 people are killed by paramilitary forces in eastern Ethiopia, in the latest spate of violence driven by ethnic divisions.