Bandits have killed at least 10 civilians in Harbu locality, about 35 kilometres away from Wenbra district in Metekel zone of Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, a security official of the district told local media on condition of anonymity.
Communication head of neighboring district Berhanu Mekonnen confirmed the massacre of more than 10 innocent people in the locality in a fresh attack on Wednesday by ethnic Gumuz bandits.
The bandits also took hostage another nine security personnel who had been deployed by the Metekel Integrated Task-force in the locality to stop the killings.
Accordingly, the bandits confiscated nine Kalashnikovs and two pistols from the security personnel. It is not clear if the security personnel were members of Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces.
Recently, the task-force said more than 2000 ethnic Gumuz bandits surrendered to the National Defense Forces, a claim residents of the Metekel zone refuted.
