A Rebel group in Ethiopia has kidnapped at least 145 civilians in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region following heavy fighting with security forces that displaced thousands of people.
The state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said a group calling itself the Gumuz People’s Democratic Movement (GPDM) abducted the civilians in Sedal Woreda following the clashes.
Fighting has been raging between local security forces and the rebels since Sunday.
The displaced people will face dire humanitarian challenge unless they are assisted, the commission and local media outlet The Reporter wrote.
Benishangul-Gumuz region hosts the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and has been blighted by armed attacks in recent years.
Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed takes oath for new term
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has just been sworn in.
The ceremony in parliament comes after his party won a landslide victory in June’s elections. The vote, which was boycotted by some parties, took place to the background of the conflict in the north.
Ethiopia’s Addis Standard newspaper tweeted a photo of the prime minister taking the oath of office:
Mr Abiy was first appointed prime minister in 2018 by the-then governing EPRDF coalition following anti-government protests.
He then went on to form the Prosperity Party in 2019, which included most of the coalition’s parties, but significantly not the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
The civil war is now between federal forces and the TPLF.
With his new government he will face old problems – finding a solution to the conflict in the north being the most pressing one.
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In other news: Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed to announce new government
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is expected to be inaugurated and form a new government on Monday, following controversial elections last June that saw a landslide win for his Prosperity Party.
His party’s win, overshadowed by the war in the northern Tigray region, means Mr Abiy could be prime minister for the next five years.
Source:BBC
