As many as 210 people have been killed in attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, a human rights group has said.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it had received reports that some 150 people were killed on 18 August by alleged members of the Oromo Liberation Army in the East Wollega area of Oromia.
A further 60 people were killed a day later in retaliatory attacks, according to the statement issued by the government-appointed body, which did not state who was responsible for the acts of revenge.
"The attack happened a day after the relocation of security forces to other areas," the statement said.
It added that civilians had fled to neighbouring areas, fearing further attacks.
"The attack was carried out along ethnic lines," it said.
Local reports and sources said the initial attack targeted ethnic Amharas who have often faced similar attacks in the past.
The OLA, designated as a terrorist group by the government, is believed to be active in the area where the latest attack took place.
Odaa Tarbii, spokesperson for the rebel group, said in a tweet on Thursday such reports were a "gross distortion of the facts on the ground."
He said it was the "routing of violent militias" and not the massacre of innocent militias.
The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Security Council on Thursday that a conflict in Ethiopia has spread beyond the Tigray region and "a humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding before our eyes."
"Inflammatory rhetoric and ethnic profiling are tearing apart the social fabric of the country," he told the 15-member council.
"All parties must immediately end hostilities without preconditions and seize that opportunity to negotiate a lasting ceasefire."
