The Army Has Been Deployed in Ethiopia Amid Deadly Protests

Last week, hundreds of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa and the Oromia region took to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The protests were in response to prominent opposition activist and media owner Jawar Mohammed having announced that the government had removed the security guards assigned to him following his return from exile last year. Supporters of Mohammed showed up outside his house the following morning to show their support for him. However, they later clashed with supporters of the recent Nobel Peace Prize winner and security forces had to subsequently intervene. Army troops are reportedly now being deployed to the Oromia region to calm the unrest.

Thousands of Ethiopians have now joined the growing protests and according to France24,at least 67 protesters have been killed with dozens others having been injured.

Ahmed denounced the killing of protesters this past Saturday. He described the current situation as "an attempt to provoke an ethnic and religious crisis". He went on to add that, "The crisis we are experiencing could get even worse if the Ethiopians do not unite."

His comments speak to the country's longstanding ethnic tensions between the Tigrayans, Oromos, Gedeos and numerous others. In December of last year, at least 2.9 million Ethiopians were displaced as a result of inter-ethnic violence. Mohammed has also called for calm.