ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia 

Ethiopian authorities have arrested at least five federal and regional officials in connection with the ongoing killings of civilians by gunmen in the western Benishangul-Gumuz region.  

Scores of people died Wednesday in the latest bout of ethnically motivated killings in the Metekel zone.

The latest massacre came after a visit to the region by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who held a public consultation on ways of ending the killings.

In recent months, the western region that borders Sudan, where Ethiopia's $5 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile is located, has seen several ethnically motivated massacres in which hundreds of ethnic Amharas were killed.

The regional communications bureau said in a statement that arrests of regional, federal and party officials suspected of involvement in the violence in any way would continue.