20 individuals over then have been killed in Anti Muslim assaults in Ethiopia

About one-third of Ethiopia's 110 million population is Muslim, and Amhara is a small minority

Picture: Collected

In excess of 20 individuals were killed in an assault on Muslims in the northern Ethiopian city of Gondar during the burial service of a Muslim senior, a neighborhood Islamic gathering said on Wednesday

Our Islamic Affairs Council, in the space where Gondar is found, portrayed Tuesday's assault on a graveyard as a "murder" by vigorously outfitted "radical Christians".

The assailants "shot weighty automatic weapons and explosives ... many were killed and others were taken to clinic," the strict gathering said.

"More than 20 people were killed in the past attack, which furthermore saw looting of Muslim property," it added.

Gondor's mayor, Judu Malede, told the Ethiopian public broadcaster ABC that "the incident was carried out by a few extremists."

"There has been some destruction and loss of life from all sides," he said, without elaborating on the identities of the attackers or those killed.

The circumstance was managed by 7 pm.

The cemetery where the attack took place is a mosque and church in the neighborhood and is the subject of ongoing disputes between Muslims and Orthodox Christians, who are an influential group in Ethiopia.

The Islamic Affairs Council said in an articulation that "albeit broad measures have been taken to go after the burial ground, the site has generally been a Muslim graveyard."

The Amhara regional government said in a statement that Tuesday's violence was sparked by clashes between people over the use of stones from the area for burial to fight over whether materials were being taken from the cemetery or church compound.

The government described the dead Muslim elder as a "Gondar town dweller, a rhinoceros Christian and a father of all Muslims as well as Muslims" and promised to investigate the attack and hold the perpetrators accountable.

'Break the unity of the people'

The use of religion as a guide has been an attempt to break the unity of the people in the historic city of Gander, a symbol of coexistence and tolerance aimed at creating conflict, the government said.

A senior Muslim official in the capital, Addis Ababa, told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attack was "planned" and that armed men had set fire to mosques and the Koran. The city mayor said the attackers were extremists who "wanted to burn." Destroying, destabilizing and looting rhinos. "

"It in no manner address the Muslim and Christian people group," he added.

Muslims make up about one-third of Ethiopia's 110 million population and a small minority in Amhara, the country's second-most populous region, influenced by Orthodox Christians.

In 2019, more than 350 kilometers north of Addis Ababa, several mosques were attacked in the town of Motahar in Amhara, in a wave of religious violence that sparked condemnation by Prime Minister Abi Ahmed.

Analysts warn that conflicts over religion in Ethiopia are often fueled by disputes over land use, ethnicity and other issues.