ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's western Benishangul Gumuz Region on Wednesday announced the release of some 83 youth who were arrested while undertaking illegal military training.
The regional police commission said 11 suspects who were detained for masterminding the illegal training of local youth would not be pardoned as they posed a major threat on the region's peace and stability, according to state-run Ethiopian News Agency.
The majority of the youth, who were receiving the illicit military training in bushlands near the region's capital Assosa, are aged between 13 and 26, according the regional police commission.
Individuals who were masterminding the training were recruiting local villagers and eventually train them to kill civilians and create havoc in the region, it was noted.
Illegal armed insurgent training is a latest development amid a recent wave of violence, mainly triggered by ethnic differences, in towns across the region.
Last month, local authorities said about a dozen people were killed in clashes in Assosa and its surroundings. The recent spate of deadly ethnic disputes often occurred between locals and other ethnic groups residing in the region.
The state, located in western Ethiopia along the border with Sudan, hosts the country's largest development project, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which is under construction on the Blue Nile River.
