ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia's government security forces killed at least 45 civilians in a massacre in Amhara state in late January, the independent state-affiliated Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said Tuesday. A statement said the EHRC had confirmed "the identity of at least 45 civilians who were extrajudicially killed by government security forces for allegedly 'supporting Fano'," an ethnic Amhara militia. The killings in the town of Merawi follow months of clashes last year between Ethiopia's military and Fano, a "self-defense" militia. The United States last week said it was deeply concerned by reports of "targeted civilian killings" in Merawi and called for an independent investigation. In September, the EHRC accused federal government forces of carrying out extra-judicial killings in Amhara, and mass arbitrary detentions in the region and elsewhere.
