Ethiopia police have uncovered a mass grave with 200 bodies in the troubled area between the country's Oromia and Somali regions.

Iran Press/ Africa: Ethiopia Police have found a mass grave containing at least 200 bodies along the border between the strife-torn Oromiya and Somali regions.

The mass grave was found during an investigation of a former administrator of the Somali region who is facing trial on charges of human rights abuses and stoking clashes, the Fana Broadcasting Corporation said late on Thursday, quoting police officials, Reuters reported.

Abdi Mohammed Omer, who was the president of the Ethiopian Somali Region from 2005-2018 was forced to resign on August 6.

He was arrested weeks later after violence broke out in the provincial capital, Jijiga.

In February 2018, people in Bishoftu city of Oromia protested against the Ethiopian regime, demanding the release of political prisoners, end security forces brutality and killing of innocent people.

Rights groups have routinely accused his administration of abuses such as torture, while some witnesses claimed he had ordered paramilitary raids on civilians in neighboring Oromiya province after ethnic clashes there last September.

The region has been plagued by violence for decades as the government fought the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front before both sides signed a peace deal last month. 210/103

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