Drought stimulates outbreaks of violence

At least 20 women have been shot dead in northeastern Ethiopia, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Friday. The women, all ethnic Afars, were killed as they were on their way home from a market, the sources confirmed. The shooting, which took place in late October, is believed to be part of increasing tensions in the Afar Regional State sparked by a severe drought affecting many parts of the country. In a separate incident, at least 11 ethnic Ittus were killed in a shoot-out on Tuesday in Fentale, Oromiya Regional State, also hit by the drought. Fierce clashes have occurred in Afar, particularly in Zone Five, between ethnic Afars and Issas competing for scare water resources. The zone is currently off-limits to UN staff. Skirmishes between Afars and Issas have been gradually escalating over the years with the Afars accusing the Issas of persistently encroaching on their territory from the southeast. "If the [current] conditions continue, tensions will only increase," one source told IRIN. "Depending on the drought and the rains, if you can’t move freely it’s going to heat up. There is a drought and there is a lot of fighting." The recent clashes, which took place near the Somali Regional State, are believed to be revenge attacks by Issas after Afars raided them for cattle earlier this year. "The rains started, the Issas left, rearmed and came back to reclaim their cattle," the source said. Regional government officials have been in talks with the Issas in an effort to resolve the tensions and calm the situation. A humanitarian source said the situation had been exacerbated by the nomadic Afar having been squeezed into a tiny area with little or no water. The sources said they did not know who was responsible for the massacre of the Afar women near the town of Shewa Robit, about 280 km north of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. But they said violence among rival clan groups had been increasing and that rival ethnic groups had been blamed. The area has also seen an increase in weapons, with AK-47 assault rifles allegedly being smuggled in from Djibouti. According to one humanitarian source operating in the area, the guns had been arriving in the town of Gewane before being distributed.