At least 17 people have been killed in clashes between Ethiopian security forces and activists seeking a new autonomous region for their Sidama ethnic group, according to a local official and hospital authorities.
A local districtofficial told Reuters on Saturday that at least 13 people were killed in a townnear Hawassa city, 275 kms from the capital Addis Ababa, while hospitalauthorities said on Friday that four protesters had died of gunshot wounds inthe city itself.
Emboldened bypolitical reforms introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed since he took powerin 2018, Sidama activists wanted to unilaterally declare a new regional stateon Thursday.
While the threat oflarge-scale violence in Hawassa was largely averted after a Sidama oppositionparty agreed to delay the declaration and accept a government offer to hold areferendum in five months, not all Sidama people accepted the delay.
Ethiopia has nine ethnic-based regional states, which are overseen by the federal government in Addis Ababa but have autonomy over revenues and security forces.
The Sidama threatto declare a new region posed a direct challenge to the authority of thefederal government in the Horn of Africa country of 105 million people.
Confirming the 13civilian deaths in Wotera Rassa, located about 27 km from Hawassa, ShubaleButa, head of the town's Malga district, said soldiers were travelling to calmthe violence in a nearby town on Thursday.
"When they sawpeople gathered near the roads they thought they were there to create a problemand that is how the killings happened," he told Reuters via telephone.
A Malga residenttold Reuters late on Friday he had seen 14 bodies after a shooting.
