Southern Ethiopia unrest kills at least 18: hospitals

At least 18 people were killed in southern Ethiopia in days of clashes between soldiers and protesters agitating for the creation of a breakaway state, hospital officials said Monday.

The unrest stems from efforts by members of the Sidama ethnic group, the largest in the southern region, to establish a new semi-autonomous state -- a project that put them on a collision course with the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Ethiopia is already partitioned into nine semi-autonomous regions.

The Sidama are part of the diverse Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.

The constitution requires the government to organise a referendum for any ethnic group that wants to form a new entity within a year of them requesting it.

The Sidama Liberation Movement, a political party that had been leading calls for the new state, last week accepted government demands for a delay pending a plebiscite before the end of the year.

But not everyone was happy with the new timeline, and ...