The death toll from the protests and ethnic violence that erupted in Ethiopia last week against the backdrop of the killing of a popular singer from Oromo has risen to 239, according to the police.
Unidentified gunmen killed popular singer Hashalu Hundisa, whom many Oromo people consider a voice of suffering from marginalization, last week, which sparked ethnic tension threatening the transition to democracy in the country.
Protests erupted in the capital, Addis Ababa, and in the surrounding Oromia region, from which the country's largest nationality hails, and has long felt marginalized and persecuted in the multi-ethnic country.
Officials attributed the killings to the deadly force used by the security forces and ethnic violence.
"As a result of the violence that occurred in the area, nine police, five militia and 215 civilians were killed," Mustafa Qadeer, Oromiya District Police official told state television on Wednesday. The Addis Ababa police had previously announced the killing of ten people in the capital.
The last death toll at the weekend was 166.
Mustafa spoke of "major damage and looting" of government and private property.
He added: "More than 3,500 suspects were arrested to control these unrest. They were anti-peace elements who carried out attacks, taking advantage of the artist's killing as an excuse to forcibly dismantle the constitutional system."
He stated that "Oromo personnel should be incubators of the ethnic groups that live among them."