Murder in Gambella

Massacres near the Sudan border show the problems of ethnic provinces - and oil

In December 2003, more than 400 Anyuak people were killed in a single day in Gambella, western Ethiopia. The massacre set off a wave of other murders and attacks on Anyuak (or Anyua). Critics of Ethiopia's ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), led by the party's Eritrean enemies (AC Vol 45 No 1), were quick to speak of genocide. The region is beset by conflicts - between the two main local ethnic groups, Anyuak and Nuer, and between locals and incoming settlers known as 'highlanders'. The fighting is embittered by local-government paralysis and external interference.

Article Tags:
Eritrean, Mengistu Haile Mariam, Sudanese, Gebre-ab Barnabas, Okello Nigello, Okello Akway, Poverty and violence, Keth Twoch, Thwat Pol, Issayas Afeworki, Jafar Rajak, Malaysian

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