An ambush by unidentified armed men killed twenty Muslim worshippers in Ethiopia’s Amhara region, according to an Islamic authority in the region.
The violence had nothing to do with the unrest in Tigray, which started in November 2020 and spread to the Amhara and Afar areas last year.
“The incident occurred yesterday as Muslims were on their way to bury a person,” said Seid Muhammed, president of the Amhara Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, to Reuters on Wednesday.
According to Seid, armed individuals in the town of Gondar tossed an explosive device towards a Muslim crowd, killing three people and wounded five more. The other victims died as a result of the pandemonium that ensued.
“Shoplifting occurred, as well as attempts to set fire to three mosques.” “One mosque’s rug was set on fire, causing minor damage,” he claimed.
The event is being investigated, according to Gizachew Muluneh, a spokesperson for the Amhara regional government, who said he would provide an update later.
According to a humanitarian source, 15 individuals were injured and transferred to Gondar Referral Hospital; however, it was unclear how many were shot or hurt by explosives.
Authorities in the same region detained five persons in 2019 on suspicion of torching four mosques in the town of Motta.
Since the federal government proclaimed a unilateral truce last month, allowing humanitarian relief into Tigray, fighting in Ethiopia’s larger conflict has subsided.
When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seized power in 2018, he implemented major political and economic changes that earned him international acclaim, culminating in the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring long-time foe Eritrea to the negotiating table.
Regional elites, on the other hand, have claimed that Abiy’s reforms have centralised power to the cost of Ethiopia’s federal character, and that some have sought to impose their own authority, resulting in conflict.
