NAIROBI - Ethiopia's state-appointed human rights commission said Friday that security forces killed at least 76 people and wounded nearly 200 during violent unrest in June and July that followed the killing of a popular singer. Ethnic violence has surged in many parts of Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous nation, since Abiy took office and lifted the lid on long-repressed tensions between more than 80 ethnic groups. The summer violence began amid protests triggered by the killing of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, a popular singer from the Oromo ethnic group, the country's largest. In October, Ethiopia's attorney general charged four suspects with terrorism in connection with the killing of the singer. The rights commission the proportionality of the force employed in some parts of the response by security forces to the unrest was "highly questionable."

Source: Ethiopian News January 01, 2021 17:48 UTC