Two Turkish tourists and their driver have been killed during an attack by armed herders in southwestern Ethiopia, regional authorities said late on Monday, describing the attack as a “heinous act.”
The attack took place in the Suri district, about 330 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of the capital Addis Ababa, and was carried out by “pastoralist bandits” on Monday morning, authorities in the Southwest region said on Facebook.
They did not give further details of the circumstances.
Turkish media reports said on Tuesday that Erdoğan Akbulak, owner of Silkar Mining, was one of the victims.
Akbulak was in Ethiopia for a tourist safari, the business daily Ekonomim said. It reported he was caught in the line of fire during an armed clash.
Two other Turkish citizens took refuge at the Turkish Embassy in Addis Ababa, the report said.
Southwestern Ethiopia is home to semi-nomadic herders, notably from the Suri and Surma tribes, who are often armed to defend their herds.
Regional authorities said they were conducting a “major law enforcement operation” to “pursue and bring to justice the bandits who committed this heinous act.”
Akbulak has been described as one of the leading figures in the Turkish business world in natural stone and mining. He’s said to have played a major role in opening Turkish marble to global markets.
Ethiopia, which emerged in 2022 from a bloody civil war in the northern Tigray region, is seeking to attract international tourists as it looks to diversify its largely state-led economy.
The Horn of Africa nation – the second most populous on the continent with around 130 million people – continues to face armed conflicts in its two most populous regions, Oromia and Amhara.
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