UN begins probe into Ethiopia’s Oromia killings

The UN says its investigators have started a probe into the recent mass killings of ethnic minorities in western Ethiopia.

More than 330 people were killed in the attacks earlier last month in remote farming villages inhabited by the Amhara community, according to government figures.

The attacks were blamed – by authorities and survivors – on the armed group the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).

But the group dismissed the accusations.

There have been calls for independent investigations and now the Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, appointed by the UN, has said it is doing exactly that.

It is also examining allegations of abuses in the brutal civil war in the north.

There has been a lull in fighting in northern Ethiopia while conflict continues to spread in other areas.

The commission says the ongoing spread of violence in Ethiopia is “an early warning indicator of further atrocities”.

Ethiopia was initially opposed to the commission’s establishment in December to look into accusations of atrocities in the north – but now its members are allowed to enter the country.

However, it is still not clear if they will have access to war-affected areas.

By BBC