5 Ethiopian Officials Arrested, 42 People Killed over Involvement in Deadly Attack

On Thursday, Ethiopia arrested five senior local officials for their involvement with the deadly attack in Benishangul-Gumuz region, where gunmen killed more than 100 people in the area.

The Ethiopian federal army also killed 42 people allegedly among those responsible for the recent massacre in the troubled western part of the country, according to local officials.

[caption id="attachment_191852" align="alignnone" width="700"] 5 Ethiopian Officials Arrested, 42 People Killed over Involvement in Deadly Attack[/caption]

 Gunmen killed more than 100 people in a dawn attack in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia on Wednesday, the human rights commission said, as residents described fleeing the latest deadly assault in an area bedeviled by ethnic violence.

Notably, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said today that he was sending more troops to secure the region bordering Sudan.

"The massacre in the Benishangul-Gumuz region is very tragic," Abiy wrote on Twitter, conceding the government's efforts to solve the problem "had not yielded results."

The government sent a "joint force" to the region "to solve the problem," Abiy said.

Amnesty International said Wednesday the latest violence "underscores the urgent need for the Ethiopian government to act in order to stop violence against ethnic minorities."

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a government-affiliated but independent body that first reported the massacre, saying no security or police forces were seen in the area when the attack occurred.

"EHRC has repeatedly called for stronger collaboration between the federal and regional governments and a greater focus into the recurring nature of the attacks," it said in a statement Thursday.