At least five people have been killed in northern Ethiopia after security forces fired on a crowd at a religious festival who were reportedly shouting anti-government slogans. Authorities in the Horn of Africa country’s Amhara region said they were yet to determine the causes of the violence that first erupted on Saturday in the town of Woldiya, more than 500 kilometers north of the capital Addis Ababa. Ethiopia’s Amhara and Oromia regions have seen violent anti- government protests since November, 2015, when people took to the streets demanding political freedom and the release of political prisoners. From the Irreecha deaths in Oromia in 2016, which activists call a massacre, Ethiopia under state of emergency slapped in October 2016 experienced zero protests through the 10-month period.
Seven people die in clashes between security forces and worshippers taking part in an Ethiopian Orthodox religious ceremony marking Timkat (Epiphany) in Woldiya, Amhara, Ethiopia, over the weekend.