Catholic Relief Services said on Monday that two of its staff members were shot and killed in Ethiopia’s Amhara region on Sunday.
Chuol Tongyik, CRS’s security manager, and Amare Kindeya, a driver, were “shot and killed” in their car while returning from an assignment in the Amhara region to Addis Ababa, the aid organization said in its statement.
The incident came in the midst of political unrest in the Amhara region. Protests erupted in several zones following a decision by the federal government to dissolve and integrate all regional special forces either in the respective regions police force or federal army and police.
Roads leading in and out of major towns and cities in the region were blocked by angry protesters in an attempt to delay federal troops deployed to carry out PM Abiy Ahmed government’s orders.
Moreover, Clashes between federal forces and protesters resulted in the death of several and the hospitalization of several others.
This is not the first time that humanitarian aid workers in Ethiopia have been targeted. 23 aid workers were killed during the Tigray War, which was fought between Tigrayan forces and federal and allied forces.