ADDIS ABABA, April 16 — A total of 247 suspected rebels have surrendered in recent days in Ethiopia’s western Benishangul-Gumuz regional state, local authorities said on Friday.
In a press statement, the state’s communications affairs office said the group included 57 suspected rebels who had firearms with them during their surrender.
The individuals are members of a banned rebel group, the Benishangul-Peoples Democratic Movement, the statement said.
“Security forces have also in recent days managed to rehabilitate 9,000 civilians who had fled to nearby forests escaping insecurity,” it added.
In recent years, inter-communal violence and rebel attacks have led to the death of thousands of civilians and the displacement of more than 100,000 others in western Ethiopia.
Benishangul-Gumuz region, located along the border with Sudan, hosts Ethiopia’s largest development project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. (Xinhua)
247 suspected rebels surrender in western Ethiopia
