Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted On Thursday, he sent troops to the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, where gunmen killed more than 100 people the day before.
Why it matters: Wednesday’s attack on Bekoji village is the latest massacre in Ethiopia as ethnic tensions over land and other resources escalate. The violence has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.
What they say: “The massacre of civilians in the Benishangul-Gumuz region is very tragic,” Abiy said in a Twitter post translated by Reuters. “The government has deployed a necessary force to resolve the root causes of the problem.”
The big picture: Ethiopia has been facing outbreaks of deadly violence since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s appointment in 2018.
- In the northern region of Tigray, the Ethiopian military has fought against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a renegade political faction.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include details about Abiy’s announcement.