Demonstrators flooded the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, blocking roads and shutting businesses in an explosion of anger following the killing of 23 people on the city’s outskirts over the weekend.

The unrest in Ethiopia’s largest city was the latest instance of ethnic violence to challenge Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has undertaken aggressive reforms including reigning in the security forces since his April inauguration.

Police appeared spread thin as groups of mostly young men waving protest flags and tree branches jogged through neighbourhoods across the city to denounce the weekend killings in the Burayu suburb.

Ethiopia’s police chief, Zeynu Jemal, said officers had shot dead five people on Monday, describing them as “dangerous vagrants” who attempted to loot property and steal police weapons.

“I came for justice because our brothers and sisters are being slaughtered and thrown into the woods,” said Bizuayehu Biyargegne Getahun, one of a group of more than a hundred protesters gathered in the central Meskel Square.

READ MORE: Arrests announced as death toll rises in Ethiopia attack

“They’re raping our sisters and mothers,” she claimed.

Zewdu Tinae called on the government to prevent the violence that he said had killed his brother and neighbour.

“The government is saying let’s come together, but we’re being driven apart because there’s no rule of law,” he said.

State-owned Ethiopia News Agency (ENA) said the violence in Burayu was carried out by an organised mob, who looted, killed and forced 886 people out of their homes, citing Alemayehu Ejigu, police commissioner for the Oromia region that surrounds Addis Ababa and includes Burayu.

On Twitter, Abiy’s chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said the leader “strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens.

“These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people and will be met with an appropriate response,” he said.

But that wasn’t enough for many protesters, who blamed the Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnicity which inhabits Oromia, for targeting minorities.

“People of Gamo and people of other ethnicities are being attacked,” said Mahmud Emersa, referring to a minority ethnic group from southern Ethiopia.

He claimed the violence has gone on for the past four years.

The roads to Burayu were blocked by protesters on Monday, who threatened journalists covering the demonstrations.

Businesses closed their doors and avenues across the city were jammed with commuters waiting for public transportation that had greatly reduced due to the unrest.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in the demonstrations.

READ MORE: Ethiopia dissidents hopeful but wary over new PM

The weekend killings followed the triumphant return from exile of leaders of the once-outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group who in August agreed with Ethiopia’s government to lay down arms.

But in the days before their return, clashes broke out between young men from the ethnically-mixed city of around four million people and Oromos who came into Addis Ababa to welcome the OLF.

Oromo-led anti-government protests that began in late 2015 helped bring about the resignation of Ethiopia’s former leader and Abiy’s subsequent rise to power.

An Oromo himself, Abiy has shuffled the leadership of Ethiopia’s police, military and intelligence arms, which have long been accused of abusing human rights.

But while he’s encouraged the people of Africa’s second most-populous country to set aside their differences, bloody ethnic conflicts have rocked his administration.

The most serious began shortly after his inauguration, when clashes between Oromos and members of the Gedeo ethnic displaced nearly one million people.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.</s>Ethiopia and Eritrea took one more important step towards normalising their relations on September 17, when Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a peace agreement in the Saudi city of Jeddah, the details of which have not been publicised yet.

A week earlier, during the Orthodox New Year's celebrations, the leaders of the two countries met on the border town of Zalambessa to re-open the common border.

The rapprochement that began in June has been marked by a number of symbolic gestures and events, including official state-visits by both leaders. During Isaias Afwerki's visit to Addis Ababa on July 14, the strongman who is known for his stern image and carefully choreographed speeches, emotionally declared to the Ethiopian prime minister "you are our leader now".

Abiy then proclaimed to the cheering crowd: "when we become one, Assab will be ours," in reference to the symbolic Eritrean Red Sea port, which was once part of Ethiopia. This hasn't been simply a process of rapprochement between two states; it almost seems like a social reunification.

Telephone lines have been opened and commercial flights restarted allowing people to call and see their relatives and friends for the first time in decades. The two countries have also exchanged ambassadors and reopened old trade routes.

The international community has welcomed these developments with enthusiasm. The secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Gutteres, hailed the reconciliation as "illustrative of a new wind of hope blowing across Africa". Peace between these two nations was long overdue and has already had some positive effect on the Horn of Africa.

But the two countries have gone through a similar euphoric moment before - in 1993 when Eritrea got its independence from Ethiopia. That rapprochement, however, did not end well.

The secession of Eritrea was supported by the new government of Ethiopia at that time and was celebrated internationally as an ideal separation. Then, five years later, Africa's deadliest war broke out between the former allies.

What made this conflict extraordinary - even in a global context - was that it took place under conditions of extensive economic interdependence and social integration between the two states.

Today, as the two countries start rebuilding their relations, it is absolutely crucial that they revisit this moment of history and do not repeat its mistakes.

The peaceful secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 marked the beginning of the first rapprochement between the two nations after the end of the 30-year-long civil war.

The Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) had both fought against the Ethiopian communist military government, the Derg, and by the early 1990s had taken power in Addis Ababa and Asmara respectively.

There was a common understanding that the Derg had been the sole source of past animosity and a convergence of interests between the two states was uncritically taken for granted.

The emergence of two young and charismatic revolutionaries - Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi and Eritrea's Isaias Afwerki - was hailed internationally as a landmark moment in which the "next generation" of African leaders was taking over.

Their first diplomatic act after the partition was to sign a cooperation agreement known as the Asmara Pact. The 25-protocol agreement was an ambitious plan to integrate the two nations in all sectors, including defence.

Eritrea's economy was in practice already integrated into Ethiopia's, as around 80 percent of its export products were destined for its neighbour. At the same time Ethiopia relied on Eritrea's main port as a transportation hub for most of its trade with the world.

After the partition, the Eritreans were allowed to keep almost all the benefits of Ethiopian citizenship, but with a sovereign state of their own. In practice both peoples continued to live as if they were still one state.

On the foreign policy front, they cooperated against Sudan's attempt to export its Islamist ideology to East Africa and Ethiopia supported Eritrea in its war against Yemen in 1996.

These unusual policies were rooted in an ambiguous approach to Eritrean nationhood by both governments. There was a common understanding that the two nations were really one people, despite the secession.

In his first visit to Ethiopia after the secession in 1993, President Afwerki declared that after economic integration, the two countries could move towards political integration. His Ethiopian counterpart, Zenawi, was also convinced this was inevitable.

Due to these fraternal sentiments and optimistic expectations, important aspects of the relations between the states, including the demarcation of the common border and currency exchange rates, were resolved. They were simply not considered priorities in the first years after independence.

Ethiopians and Eritreans were therefore caught off-guard when a dispute over a relatively unimportant piece of land turned into a full-blown war in 1998.

The war was fought with the same emotional zeal with which cooperation and integration had been pursued only a few years earlier. The two governments were unyielding and fought for two years in a deadly war that claimed more than 100,000 lives.

During the war and the subsequent decades of hostility, people on both sides saw it as the product of betrayal and deceit, rather than as an outcome of conflicting interests and policies.

Regardless of who is to blame for the conflict, both governments have to take responsibility for not doing enough to resolve differences peacefully.

While it is unlikely that history will repeat itself with another major military conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, it is nevertheless important for the two states to establish clear mechanisms for arbitration and communication. After all, in the early 1990s, a war between the two was also deemed extremely unlikely.

The international community and the governments and people of Ethiopia and Eritrea have been desperate for peace, and now that it's seemingly here, no one seems to be interested in confronting the thorny issues. Indeed, according to local customs it would be inappropriate to revisit the past during reconciliation.

Nostalgia and notions of fraternity have come back with the new rapprochement. While the historical and cultural affinity of the Ethiopian and Eritrean peoples is undeniable, this shouldn't be the basis for diplomatic relations. This approach has been tried in the past and has failed - with severe consequences.

The basis for the relationship ought to be based on a dispassionate recognition that Ethiopia and Eritrea are two sovereign states with individual interests that will not always overlap. Rights, responsibilities and mechanisms for managing disputes that will inevitably emerge must be clearly formulated.

Ethiopia and Eritrea find themselves in one of the world's most conflict-prone neighbourhoods. A number of regional and domestic political actors currently feel left out or marginalised by the peace process and have an incentive to sabotage it.

Two months after the peace declaration, the demarcation of the common border, which was the crux of the two-decades-long stalemate, is yet to begin and there already seem to be disagreements on how to proceed. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (part of the EPRDF), which governs the Ethiopian regional state bordering Eritrea, does not seem to agree with the federal government's approach to demarcation. It keeps repeating publicly that the physical demarcation has to involve the residents of the borderlands.

Eritrea, for its part, is a state that is not governed by a constitution or parliament. The extreme centralisation of the regime around the figure of the president makes it a highly unpredictable partner. In addition, in a deliberate effort to sow resentment and suspicion, Eritrean diplomats keep insulting the TPLF on Twitter, despite the fact that the latter is a constitutive member of the ruling EPRDF.

All of these factors make the process more prone to derailment than it may appear.

In the context of these outstanding issues, the two states has already taken some steps to resume economic relations. Ethiopia has started using Eritrea's Assab port on the Red Sea and Ethiopian investors have been looking at opportunities in Eritrea.

But the rules that will regulate the resumption of trade have not been made public yet and much like in 1993, these matters are either being deprioritised or handled in an opaque manner.

In this context, it is important to remember that neither fraternal bonds nor economic interdependence have been sufficient for preventing war in the past; on the contrary, they have served as enablers for emotive and reckless policies that culminated in war and a long and bitter rivalry.

It is imperative that the two governments dispassionately formulate their national interests and institutionalise the terms of their relationship as soon as possible, and leave as few issues as possible to fate, trust or fraternity.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.</s>ADDIS ABABA - Demonstrators flooded the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Monday, blocking roads and shutting businesses in an explosion of anger following the killing of 23 people on the city's outskirts over the weekend.

The unrest in Ethiopia's largest city was the latest instance of ethnic violence to challenge Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has undertaken aggressive reforms including reigning in the security forces since his April inauguration.

Police appeared spread thin as groups of mostly young men waving protest flags and tree branches jogged through neighbourhoods across the city to denounce the weekend killings in the Burayu suburb. Ethiopia's police chief, Zeynu Jemal, said officers had shot dead five people on Monday, describing them as "dangerous vagrants" who attempted to loot property and steal police weapons. "I came for justice because our brothers and sisters are being slaughtered and thrown into the woods," said Bizuayehu Biyargegne Getahun, one of a group of more than a hundred protesters gathered in the central Meskel Square.

"They're raping our sisters and mothers," she claimed.

Zewdu Tinae called on the government to prevent the violence that he said had killed his brother and neighbour.

"The government is saying let's come together, but we're being driven apart because there's no rule of law," he said.

State-owned Ethiopia News Agency (ENA) said the violence in Burayu was carried out by an organised mob, who looted, killed and forced 886 people out of their homes, citing Alemayehu Ejigu, police commissioner for the Oromia region that surrounds Addis Ababa and includes Burayu.

On Twitter, Abiy's chief of staff, Fitsum Arega, said the leader "strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens.

"These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people and will be met with an appropriate response," he said.

But that wasn't enough for many protesters, who blamed the Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnicity which inhabits Oromia, for targeting minorities.

"People of Gamo and people of other ethnicities are being attacked," said Mahmud Emersa, referring to a minority ethnic group from southern Ethiopia.

He claimed the violence has gone on for the past four years.

The roads to Burayu were blocked by protesters on Monday, who threatened journalists covering the demonstrations.

Businesses closed their doors and avenues across the city were jammed with commuters waiting for public transportation that had greatly reduced due to the unrest.

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries in the demonstrations.

The weekend killings followed the triumphant return from exile of leaders of the once-outlawed Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group who in August agreed with Ethiopia's government to lay down arms.

But in the days before their return, clashes broke out between young men from the ethnically-mixed city of around four million people and Oromos who came into Addis Ababa to welcome the OLF.

Oromo-led anti-government protests that began in late 2015 helped bring about the resignation of Ethiopia's former leader and Abiy's subsequent rise to power.

An Oromo himself, Abiy has shuffled the leadership of Ethiopia's police, military and intelligence arms, which have long been accused of abusing human rights.

But while he's encouraged the people of Africa's second most-populous country to set aside their differences, bloody ethnic conflicts have rocked his administration.

The most serious began shortly after his inauguration, when clashes between Oromos and members of the Gedeo ethnic displaced nearly one million people.</s>No fewer than 23 people were killed in a weekend of violence targeting minorities in the ethnic Oromo heartland near Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, a police source said.

The unrest followed a mass rally on Saturday marking the return to Ethiopia of the leadership of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group, which had fought an insurgency for self-determination for Oromos, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

The incidents are the latest in a spate of ethnic unrest — including the displacement of nearly 1 million people in another part of the country — since reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April, the first Oromo ruler in the ethnically diverse Ethiopia’s modern history.

Local residents said shops were looted and people attacked by Oromo youth who stormed through streets targeting businesses and homes of ethnic minorities. The violence escalated on Saturday after two days of sporadic attacks in several areas of the Oromiya region’s Burayu district northwest of Addis Ababa, residents said.

“Mobs of ethnic Oromo youth then marched here in Ashwa Meda and attacked our homes and looted businesses chanting ‘leave our land’,” said Hassan Ibrahim, a trader in an ethnically diverse part of the district told Reuters by telephone.(Reuters)</s>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Several thousand Ethiopians demonstrated in the streets of the capital on Monday morning to protest ethnic-based attacks in the outskirts of the city in which more than 20 people died over the weekend.

Commissioner of the federal police Zeynu Jemal said that five people were killed in the Monday protests and between 20 and 25 people were killed in the weekend attack. He said that 700 suspects are in custody.

Victims of the attack and their families alleged the perpetrators are some groups of youths from the surrounding Oromia region.

Police fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, but people continued to flock to central Meskel Square. The demonstrators are calling on the government to take firm measures against the perpetrators.

"We demand justice," some of the rally goers chanted when they passed by the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on the way to Meskel Square. "The government's task is to protect its citizens, not to send condolences after they are butchered," shouted a protester.

There were also protests in Arba Mich, the capital city of Ethiopia's Southern region and the home area of many victims of Saturday's attacks, in which demonstrators kneeled to urge justice.

For the first time since taking office in April, Ethiopia's reformist leader Abiy has come under sharp criticism for what some see as his soft stance and people are calling on him on social media to toughen up and restore law and order. Some Ethiopians are also openly calling for a state of emergency to be put in place to avoid further killings.

For his part Abiy denounced the killings.

"Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens ... These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people & will be met with appropriate response," said Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, in a tweet on Sunday.

Ethnic-based attacks over land and resources are not new in this East African nation of more than 80 ethnic groups. But the severity of such attacks has grown in recent months. The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF said in August that as many as 2.8 million Ethiopians were internally displaced, mainly due to ethnic-based attacks in various parts of the country.</s>A police source says at least 23 people were killed in a weekend of violence targeting minorities in the ethnic Oromo heartland near Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa.

The unrest followed a mass rally on Saturday marking the return to Ethiopia of the leadership of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) group, which had fought an insurgency for self-determination for Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group.

The incidents are the latest in a spate of ethnic unrest -- including the displacement of nearly 1 million people in another part of the country -- since reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in April, the first Oromo ruler in the ethnically diverse Ethiopia's modern history.

Local residents said shops were looted and people attacked by Oromo youths who stormed through streets targeting businesses and homes of ethnic minorities.

The violence escalated on Saturday after two days of sporadic attacks in several areas of the Oromiya region's Burayu district northwest of Addis Ababa, residents said.

"Mobs of ethnic Oromo youth then marched here in Ashwa Meda and attacked our homes and looted businesses chanting 'leave our land'," Hassan Ibrahim, a trader in an ethnically diverse part of the district, told Reuters by telephone. "By night time, there were several dead bodies along roads."

Alemayehu Ejigu, head of Oromiya region's police commission, said more than 70 people had been arrested, and denied accusations that police were slow to respond.

"They (mobs) do not represent anyone - they had no reason other than theft. Anyone has the constitutional right to reside in Oromiya or anywhere."</s>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Several thousand Ethiopians demonstrated in the streets of the capital on Monday morning to protest ethnic-based attacks in the outskirts of the city in which more than 20 people died over the weekend.

Commissioner of the federal police Zeynu Jemal said that five people were killed in the Monday protests and between 20 and 25 people were killed in the weekend attack. He said that 700 suspects are in custody.

Victims of the attack and their families alleged the perpetrators are some groups of youths from the surrounding Oromia region.

Police fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, but people continued to flock to central Meskel Square. The demonstrators are calling on the government to take firm measures against the perpetrators.

"We demand justice," some of the rally goers chanted when they passed by the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on the way to Meskel Square. "The government's task is to protect its citizens, not to send condolences after they are butchered," shouted a protester.

There were also protests in Arba Mich, the capital city of Ethiopia's Southern region and the home area of many victims of Saturday's attacks, in which demonstrators kneeled to urge justice.

For the first time since taking office in April, Ethiopia's reformist leader Abiy has come under sharp criticism for what some see as his soft stance and people are calling on him on social media to toughen up and restore law and order. Some Ethiopians are also openly calling for a state of emergency to be put in place to avoid further killings.

For his part Abiy denounced the killings.

"Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens ... These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people & will be met with appropriate response," said Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, in a tweet on Sunday.

Ethnic-based attacks over land and resources are not new in this East African nation of more than 80 ethnic groups. But the severity of such attacks has grown in recent months. The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF said in August that as many as 2.8 million Ethiopians were internally displaced, mainly due to ethnic-based attacks in various parts of the country.</s>ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed in a weekend of violence targeting minorities in Ethiopia’s ethnic Oromo heartland near the capital Addis Ababa, police said, a blow to new reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s efforts at reconciliation.

The violence escalated on Saturday, the day of a rally marking the return to Ethiopia of leaders of the exiled Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which had waged a four-decade insurgency for self-determination for Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group.

Abiy, himself the first Oromo leader in the ethnically diverse country’s modern history, has pursued a reconciliation strategy since taking power in April, steering the state away from a hardline security policy in place for decades.

In the latest unrest, local residents said shops were looted and people attacked by mobs of Oromo youth who stormed through streets targeting businesses and homes of ethnic minorities. The violence escalated on Saturday after two days of sporadic attacks in the Oromiya region’s Burayu district northwest of Addis Ababa.

“Mobs of ethnic Oromo youth then marched here in Ashwa Meda and attacked our homes and looted businesses chanting ‘leave our land’,” said Hassan Ibrahim, a trader in an ethnically diverse part of the district told Reuters.

“By night time, there were several dead bodies along roads.”

Another resident said some of the violence was carried out by people returning from Saturday’s rally in support of the returning OLF leaders. Reuters could not immediately confirm this. The OLF did not immediately comment on the unrest.

State-affiliated Fana Broadcasting said police had detained 300-400 people over the violence. The outlet had earlier on Monday said 200 people had been arrested.

Alemayehu Ejigu, head of Oromiya region’s police commission, denied accusations that police were slow to respond.

Those behind the violence “do not represent anyone - they had no reason other than theft,” he said. “Anyone has the constitutional right to reside in Oromiya or anywhere.”

MARGINALIZATION

Ethiopia’s Oromo, who make up about a third of the population, have long complained of being marginalized during decades of authoritarian rule by governments led by politicians from other smaller ethnic groups. In recent years the Oromo have been angered by what they see as encroachment on their land.

Abiy’s predecessor Hailemariam Desalegn resigned in February in the wake of violent anti-government protests that had swept the Oromo heartland for two years.

Since taking power, Abiy has lifted a state of emergency, freed political prisoners and removed leaders of banned groups including the OLF from a blacklist, paving the way for their return to the country.

But Abiy’s reforms have yet to halt ethnic violence. Clashes between Oromos and ethnic Gedeos in the south caused nearly a million people to flee their homes soon after he took power.

Abiy’s chief of staff Fitsum Arega said on Twitter that the prime minister “strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens around Ashwa Meda, Kataa and Fili Doro last night.

“These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to our unity and solidarity of our people and will be met with appropriate response,” he said.

Hundreds of people staged protests on Monday outside parliament, the central square, the headquarters of state television and other places in the capital demanding justice.

“Our homes were destroyed and our women raped simply because we belonged to another ethnic group. Yet the government is yet to respond properly,” said Atnafu Worku, one of the demonstrators.</s>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Several thousand Ethiopians demonstrated in the streets of the capital on Monday morning to protest ethnic-based attacks in the outskirts of the city in which more than 20 people died over the weekend.

Commissioner of the federal police Zeynu Jemal said that five people were killed in the Monday protests and between 20 and 25 people were killed in the weekend attack. He said that 700 suspects are in custody.

Victims of the attack and their families alleged the perpetrators are some groups of youths from the surrounding Oromia region.

Police fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, but people continued to flock to central Meskel Square. The demonstrators are calling on the government to take firm measures against the perpetrators.

"We demand justice," some of the rally goers chanted when they passed by the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on the way to Meskel Square. "The government's task is to protect its citizens, not to send condolences after they are butchered," shouted a protester.

There were also protests in Arba Mich, the capital city of Ethiopia's Southern region and the home area of many victims of Saturday's attacks, in which demonstrators kneeled to urge justice.

For the first time since taking office in April, Ethiopia's reformist leader Abiy has come under sharp criticism for what some see as his soft stance and people are calling on him on social media to toughen up and restore law and order. Some Ethiopians are also openly calling for a state of emergency to be put in place to avoid further killings.

For his part Abiy denounced the killings.

"Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens ... These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people & will be met with appropriate response," said Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, in a tweet on Sunday.

Ethnic-based attacks over land and resources are not new in this East African nation of more than 80 ethnic groups. But the severity of such attacks has grown in recent months. The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF said in August that as many as 2.8 million Ethiopians were internally displaced, mainly due to ethnic-based attacks in various parts of the country.</s>ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Several thousand Ethiopians demonstrated in the streets of the capital on Monday morning to protest ethnic-based attacks in the outskirts of the city in which more than 20 people died over the weekend.

Commissioner of the federal police Zeynu Jemal said that five people were killed in the Monday protests and between 20 and 25 people were killed in the weekend attack. He said that 700 suspects are in custody.

Victims of the attack and their families alleged the perpetrators are some groups of youths from the surrounding Oromia region.

Police fired tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators, but people continued to flock to central Meskel Square. The demonstrators are calling on the government to take firm measures against the perpetrators.

"We demand justice," some of the rally goers chanted when they passed by the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on the way to Meskel Square. "The government's task is to protect its citizens, not to send condolences after they are butchered," shouted a protester.

There were also protests in Arba Mich, the capital city of Ethiopia's Southern region and the home area of many victims of Saturday's attacks, in which demonstrators kneeled to urge justice.

For the first time since taking office in April, Ethiopia's reformist leader Abiy has come under sharp criticism for what some see as his soft stance and people are calling on him on social media to toughen up and restore law and order. Some Ethiopians are also openly calling for a state of emergency to be put in place to avoid further killings.

For his part Abiy denounced the killings.

"Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed strongly condemns the killings and acts of violence against innocent citizens ... These cowardly attacks represent a grave concern to the unity and solidarity of our people & will be met with appropriate response," said Fitsum Arega, the prime minister's chief of staff, in a tweet on Sunday.

Ethnic-based attacks over land and resources are not new in this East African nation of more than 80 ethnic groups. But the severity of such attacks has grown in recent months. The U.N. Children's Fund UNICEF said in August that as many as 2.8 million Ethiopians were internally displaced, mainly due to ethnic-based attacks in various parts of the country.
Ethnic violence in Ethiopia over the weekend results in 23 deaths. Thousands protest against the killings in the capital Addis Ababa.