![\"Ethiopian](\"http:\/\/s.newsweek.com\/sites\/www.newsweek.com\/files\/styles\/lg\/public\/2016\/03\/10\/ethiopian-prime-minister-hailemariam-desalegn-addresses-u.n.-summit..jpg\")
<\/p>\nBY CONOR GAFFEY ON 3\/10\/16 AT 12:17 PM<\/p>\n
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Ethiopia\u2019s prime minister has apologized for the deaths resulting from anti-government protests in the Oromia region but accused \u201canti-peace forces\u201d of being responsible.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people have been killed in protests in the Oromia region<\/a>, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, since November 2015. The protests began among members of the Oromo ethnic group\u2014Ethiopia\u2019s majority ethnicity\u2014against plans to expand the capital\u2019s territory, which Oromos feared would result in the forced eviction of farmers and loss of farming land.<\/p>\n The Ethiopian security forces have cracked down on the protests, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) claiming in January that at least 140 people had been killed<\/a> in the clashes. Despite the Addis expansion plans being dropped in January, Oromo protesters continued to be subject to lethal force, HRW said in February. The Ethiopian Embassy in London told Newsweek <\/em>that HRW\u2019s February report was not credible but was based on \u201cmalicious statements, false accusations and unsubstantiated allegations from opposition propaganda materials.\u201d<\/p>\n Desalegn has previously accused neighboring Eritrea<\/a> of sabotaging the protests and attempting to use them to incite civil disobedience against the government. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a war over the country\u2019s borders between 1998 and 2000, resulting in around 100,000 deaths<\/a> but only minor border changes. In his speech to parliament, Desalegn said that Ethiopia would continue cordial relations with Eritrea but that it would respond to any \u201cattack\u201d<\/a> by its neighbor within the remit of international law.<\/p>\n Ethiopia is Africa\u2019s second-largest country and Oromos constituted 25 million<\/a> out of a total population of around 74 million at the last census in 2007. Oromos have long complained of discrimination by the Ethiopian government, which propagates Amhara culture and language as the norm in Ethiopia. An October 2014 report by Amnesty International found that at least 5,000 Oromos<\/a> were arrested between 2011 and 2014 for suspected opposition to the government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BY CONOR GAFFEY ON 3\/10\/16 AT 12:17 PM Ethiopia\u2019s prime minister has apologized for the deaths resulting from anti-government protests in the Oromia region but accused \u201canti-peace forces\u201d of being responsible. Hundreds of people have been killed in protests in the Oromia region, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, since November 2015. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_ml_titleColor":"#000000","_ml_titleFont":"Roboto","_ml_titleFontSize":1.1359999999999998987476601541857235133647918701171875,"_ml_titleFontWeight":"400","_ml_titleLineHeight":1.3000000000000000444089209850062616169452667236328125,"_ml_metaColor":"#708090","_ml_metaFont":"Montserrat","_ml_metaFontSize":0.67849999999999999200639422269887290894985198974609375,"_ml_metaFontWeight":"400","_ml_metaLineHeight":0.92000000000000003996802888650563545525074005126953125,"_ml_bodyColor":"#a9a9a9","_ml_bodyFont":"Open Sans","_ml_bodyFontSize":0.84999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,"_ml_bodyFontWeight":"400","_ml_bodyLineHeight":1.1999999999999999555910790149937383830547332763671875,"_ml_wooPriceColor":"#666","_ml_wooPriceFont":"Open Sans","_ml_wooPriceFontSize":0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,"_ml_wooPriceFontWeight":"400","_ml_wooPriceLineHeight":1.270000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingColor":"#000","_ml_headingFont":"Merriweather","_ml_headingFontSize":2.020000000000000017763568394002504646778106689453125,"_ml_headingFontWeight":"700","_ml_headingLineHeight":1.4699999999999999733546474089962430298328399658203125,"_mlglobal_userfontcolors":{"headingColorUser":[],"titleColorUser":[],"metaColorUser":[],"bodyColorUser":[],"wooPriceColorUser":[]},"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\nSpeaking to the Ethiopian parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said that the government needed to listen to the grievances of the people, according to the BBC<\/a>. Desalegn blamed the deaths and destruction of property in the protests of unnamed \u201canti-peace forces,\u201d which he said had hijacked the protesters\u2019 legitimate concerns. The prime minister also claimed that the problems in Oromia were the \u201cdirect results of unresponsiveness and unemployment,\u201d according to<\/a> the Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n