Gunmen Kill over 100 Civilians in Western Ethiopia

On Wednesday, more than 100 civilians were killed in the latest ethnic massacre in the west of Ethiopia, a local news agency reported.

A News Agency, affiliated to the Amhara region in the country, quoted witnesses, saying that the attack took place this morning in the Metekal area of the Benishangul-Gumuz region.

The attack took place a day after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed visited the region and spoke about the need to bring those who are responsible for the recent attacks to justice.

Ethnic tensions pose a major challenge as Abiy tries to consolidate national unity in a country that includes more than 80 different groups.

Witnesses who spoke by phone said that houses were burned in the attack in the Bekuji district.

The ruling party in the region, the Party of Prosperity, said in a statement that "The bandits who committed such horrific crime were well-armed."

The Amhara is the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia and its population has been targeted repeatedly for the past few weeks.

Also, Amnesty International Organization stated that an attack launched by the rebels on the first of November in the Oromia region in the far west of the country resulted in the death of at least 54 people.

According to a security official, at least 14 civilians were also killed in an attack in the Benishangul-Gumuz region in early October.

This came after similar deadly attacks in September, which also led to the displacement of more than 300 people, prompting the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to express its deep concern.