The African Union on Tuesday has expressed displeasure towards the attacks on civilians in Ethiopia and declared that the perpetrators should to be brought to justice.
The national human rights has recently labeled the attack a “massacre”.
In a statement released by the chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, he strongly condemned the killing of innocent civilians following inter-communal violence in Ethiopia.
He also charged Ethiopian politicians “to engage in an inclusive national dialogue” to cool tensions, warning that “failure to do so can have grave impacts not only in the country but the region as a whole”.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission disclosed that at least 32 civilians were killed in a “massacre” in an area of Ethiopia’s Oromia region known as Wollega.
AFP reported that two of the injured later died in hospital, bringing the official toll to 34 on Tuesday.
It was gathered that around ten people remained in the hospital Tuesday but no more fatalities were expected.
Some 200 families were said to have been displaced, but Getachew emphasized that “the area is now peaceful” and those displaced were returning.
Amnesty put the death toll at 54 while a local resident said that at least 60 bodies had been buried after the attack.
It is the latest in a series of recent attacks targeting Amharas, ramping up pressure on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the country’s first Oromo leader, to address Ethiopia’s persistent security woes.
Abebaw, a local residen lamented, “In Wollega, survivors continued to bury the dead. Hundreds of people were still hiding out in the surrounding forest.
“We buried 52 bodies yesterday and eight more bodies this morning, with several more expected to be buried later in the afternoon,” Abebaw said.
He added that soldiers had returned to the area to restore order “but we neither trust them nor local authorities to protect us.”
