Clashes between two of Ethiopia largest ethnic groups that erupted this month have killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands, the government said Monday.
A government spokesman, Negeri Lencho, said the killing of two local administrators coupled with long-running land disputes led to an outbreak of fighting between the Oromo and Somali peoples in the south.
Negeri told a press conference that, "We can say hundreds of the Oromo ethnicity were killed... and there were also deaths from the Somali side, we don't know exactly how many.”
The fighting that started along the border between the regional states belonging to the two ethnic groups has since been quelled, Negeri said.
Ethiopia is divided into ethnically-based federal regions and the Oromo and Somali people have for years argued over who controls arable land along their shared border.
A 2004 referendum decided the issue, but clashes have persisted with officials from both sides trading accusations that local armed forces are involved.
AFP reports that in April, the presidents of the two regions signed an agreement to settle the unrest.
Negeri said two officials from the Oromia region were arrested by Somali regional forces and killed on September 11, provoking violent protests by the Oromos.
A national task force has been set up to address the needs of the displaced - which Oromo president Lemma Megersa last week put at 50,000 people - and mediation efforts were underway with community elders.
