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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

ETHIOPIA: 56 arrested after ethnic killings

ADDIS ABABA, 22 December 2003 (IRIN) - Police have arrested 56 people after fighting erupted in western Ethiopia last week leaving at least 30 people dead, officials said.

Those seized are being held in connection with fighting which broke out in Gambella town after seven people – including a policeman – were shot dead in their vehicle.

Ethiopia’s Minister of State for Federal Affairs Gebreab Barnabas said “anti-peace forces” were to blame for the killings but did not name any specific group.

“The cold-blooded killings aimed at specific groups, non-indigenous groups to begin with, followed by indigenous ones, is hopelessly aimed at putting a wedge between brotherly communities,” he said in a statement.

Several incidents were reported, including the lobbing of a hand grenade into a compound shared by UNHCR and its government partner, the Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs, at Fugnido camp, 100 km from Gambella. The camp houses more than 28,000 of the region’s 85,000 mostly Sudanese refugees.

Although the situation still remains, tense signs of normality are said to be returning to the town. Workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross have travelled to Gambella to offer medical support as the local hospital is overwhelmed with casualties.

UNHCR, which pulled out staff from the area because of the violence, said there was a strong military presence in the area.

“Although still tense, some shops and government offices have re-opened and people are on the streets in Gambella,” said Ron Redmond, UNHCR spokesman in Geneva.

Opposition political groups in the area claim the death toll has run into several hundred. The Gambella People’s United Democratic Front claimed that educated local Anuaks had been targeted in the wave of reprisal killings that erupted after the initial ambush.

Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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