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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ETHIOPIA: 40 killed in tribal fighting

ADDIS ABABA, 8 January 2003 (IRIN) - Tribal fighting is believed to have left as many as 40 people dead in recent clashes sparked by the severe drought in Ethiopia, humanitarian sources said on Wednesday.

The clashes, which occurred near Fentale in eastern Ethiopia, broke out after Afar pastoralists moved into Kereyou territory to graze their animals.

According to one local source, dozens of Kereyou tribesmen were killed in the fighting with armed Afar men. The clash, which took place in December, is the latest in a series of violent outbreaks over the past few months.

“Kereyou men were killed in the incident," a humanitarian source in the area told IRIN. “It was a fight over pasture on the border of Kereyou and Afar. The pressure of the drought has pushed the Afar into the Kereyou area. The Afar were much better armed and so the consequences were inevitable.”

Clashes between rival groups have been erupting with increasing regularity in Afar and neighbouring areas.

In late November, some 16 people were shot dead in Gewane in Afar region. The killing has been blamed on ethnic violence between rival clans. Some 20 Afar women were also shot dead as they returned from a daily market near the town of Shewarobit, about 280 km north of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The killing was blamed on a rival ethnic group. Days later 11 Ittus in Kereyou were killed by Afar.

Aid organisations and the UN have warned that the drought has only exacerbated the conflict between groups competing for scarce water resources.

The Ethiopian military is understood to have moved into some areas to try and keep a lid on tensions. Regional government officials have also been involved in talks to try and defuse the situation.

The area has also seen an increase in guns – with AK47’s being smuggled in from neighbouring Djibouti.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

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