ADDIS ABABA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethnic clashes in Ethiopia's western Benishangul Gumuz regional state in April left 31 people dead, the Benishangul Gumuz region communications office said on Friday.
In a press statement, Benishangul Gumuz regional state communication office, said the deaths happened after a dispute between two individuals on April 25 in Dangur locality turned into an ethnic fight, leaving at least 31 people dead.
The ethnic violence pitted members of the Gumuz ethnic group against members from the Amhara ethnic group.
"Federal and regional security forces have been deployed in the area to prevent a recurrence of the violence and 63 people have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in last month's deadly violence," said the statement.
Ethiopia follows an ethnic federalism model, which has been credited with giving self-governance rights to more than 80 ethnic groups that make up the country's estimated 100 million people.
However, critics claim that the ethnic federalism model magnifies ethnic diversity at the expense of national unity, leading to occasional ethnic tension and clashes.
