Officials: Clashes in Disputed Zone Kill Dozens of Ethiopian Herders

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA - Dozens of herders have been gunned down along the border of two regions in northeast Ethiopia, officials said Tuesday, a fresh flare-up in a long-running dispute over contested land.  

The bloodshed in territory claimed by both the Somali and Afar regions highlights security woes facing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that extend well beyond the ongoing  conflict farther north in Tigray.   Spokesmen for the two regions traded accusations Tuesday over who was responsible for the latest violence, which began Friday. None of the details could be independently verified.   Ahmed Kaloyte of the Afar region told AFP that Somali special police and militias raided an area known as Haruka, "indiscriminately firing on locals and killing more than 30 Afar civilian pastoralists" and injuring at least 50 more.