Two workers of a humanitarian organization are shot dead in Ethiopia

11 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The humanitarian organization Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has denounced this Monday that two of its workers have died over the weekend after being shot from a vehicle in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.

CRS has indicated that the victims are Chuol Tongyik, 37, who has been working as a security manager since December 2022; and Amare Kindeya, 43, who has been a driver with the organization since 2019.

The details of the incident are unknown, but the agency points out that both were returning to the capital, Addis Ababa, on Sunday, when they were shot, according to a statement.

The representative of the humanitarian agency in Ethiopia, Zemede Zewdie, has expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased and has reiterated the organization’s commitment to continue working in support of the people of Ethiopia.

“The depth of our shock and pain is hard to measure and we are saddened by this senseless violence… These colleagues were an integral part of the CRS team and the larger community of aid workers,” Zemede said.

This incident has taken place at the same time as demonstrations have taken place in various cities in the region on the occasion of the Government’s decision to dissolve and reintegrate the regional special forces.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the authorities “will take appropriate measures” against those who “deliberately play a distracting role” in efforts to disband these forces, the most notorious case of which is the region’s special forces. from Amhara, who fought alongside the Army against the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) during the two years of war in Tigray (north).

As reported by the newspaper ‘Addis Standard’, in recent days there have been clashes between government security forces and civilians, as well as between members of the regional special forces and the Army.