‘Death toll from mid-april ethnic clashes may be 200 in Ethiopia’

NAIROBI: The death toll in clashes this month between Ethiopia’s two largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amhara, in the northern Amhara region may be as high as 200, the government ombudsman said on Sunday, up from previous reports of at least 50.

Residents and officials in Oromiya Special Zone, an area in Amhara with a majority Oromo population, and the town of Ataye said there were deadly clashes in the area on April 16.

“According to information we got from people who are displaced, we estimate that up to 200 people might have died from both zones, but we still need to verify the number,” Endale Haile, Ethiopia’s chief ombudsman, told Reuters.

The United States on Friday tasked a senior diplomat with reducing tensions surrounding Ethiopia’s Tigray region as fears rise that the conflict will spread.

Jeffrey Feltman, a veteran US diplomat who until 2018 served in a top UN position, was named to a new role of special envoy to the Horn of Africa. Feltman will address the Tigray conflict as well as related tensions between Ethiopia and Sudan, which has taken in refugees and sent troops into a disputed border area.

He will also take up disputes over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a massive project that Egypt and Sudan fear will deprive them of vital water resources.

“At a moment of profound change for this strategic region, high-level US engagement is vital to mitigate the risks posed by escalating conflict while providing support to once-in-ageneration opportunities for reform,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The announcement comes a day ater the UN Security Council voiced alarm over Tigray, where the UN aid chief says that people have started to die of hunger and sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war.

Blinken has previously spoken of “ethnic cleansing” in the region by troops of neighboring Eritrea, which has since announced a pullout.

Ethiopia, a US ally, launched an offensive in Tigray in November ater the local ruling party was blamed for atacks on military installations.