Armed attack in Ethiopia leaves 16 dead, including women and children

by EthioForum

ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) –The Ethiopian government announced on Monday an armed attack in Afar regional state located in the eastern part of the country has left 16 people dead.

Speaking to media outlets, officials from the Ethiopia National Defense Forces (ENDF) and the Afar regional state, said gunmen equipped with heavy weapons attacked Afambo locality in Afar regional state over the weekend leaving 16 people dead.

They further said seven out of the 16 dead were women and children, with several other people who received heavy injuries in the attack currently being treated in nearby medical facilities.

Xinhua’s efforts to get comments from the Afar regional state and the Ethiopia National Defense (ENDF) officials has so far been unsuccessful.

The statement by the officials didn’t disclose the identity of the armed attackers or any motive for the attack.

However, some areas of the largely pastoral Amhara regional state have in recent years been the scenes of deadly clashes between rival groups over access to grazing lands and water points.

In January, ethnic Afar protesters, blocked the main road connecting landlocked Ethiopia with neighboring Djibouti, demanding an end to alleged land encroachment and violent attacks from members of the neighboring ethnic Somali community.

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