Ethiopia says 7 members of rebel group surrender

The Ethiopian government announced on Wednesday that seven members of an outlawed Rebel Group Ginbot Seven Patriotic Front (G7-PF) have surrendered.

The rebels had surrendered with their arms after receiving amnesty from the government, said Eyasu Yilak, Chief of Security Administration, Central Gonder zone in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region, reported state media outlet Ethiopia News Agency.

Yilak alleged the rebels have received training from Eritrea to conduct “terror attacks” against civilians and administrative targets.

The Ethiopian government alleges the G7-PF rebel group is supported by its archrival country Eritrea, while Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of supporting Eritrean rebel groups and running an international campaign to isolate the Red Sea nation.

Since Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia following a referendum in 1993, the two nations have been locked in a hostile border dispute, which resulted in a bloody border war between 1998 and 2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides.

Since then, the common border between Eritrea and Ethiopia has had an uneasy calm punctuated with periodic armed standoffs.