Ethiopia: Attackers kill nine police officers in Sheka Zone, SNNPR, May 18

Event

Unidentified assailants killed nine police officers and wounded three others during an attack in Sheka Zone, South Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR), May 18. Local officials did not immediately provide details regarding the incident or confirm a motive for the attack. Similar attacks targeting security forces are possible over the coming weeks.

Sheka Zone is 319 km (198 miles) west of Hawassa, Sidama Region.

Context

The SNNPR is Ethiopia's most diverse region. The persistence of communal incidents in some areas of Ethiopia has cast doubt on the stability of "ethnic federalism," the political structure inherited from former Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi. Critics claim ethnic federalism resulted in a strengthening of local identities and ethnic tensions, as various communities started to demand more self-rule from the central government. Although the SNNPR region was not affected by protests on the same scale as the Oromia Region, long-standing disputes over land and other resources remain deadly among ethnic groups.