ADDIS ABABA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia announced on Wednesday it has arrested 171 individuals for their suspected roles in ethnic violence in the western part of the country.

The Ethiopia command post established to secure the unrest-hit border areas of Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia regional states made the arrests in the past few days, reported state media outlet Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporate.

The report further said a total of 49 Kalashnikov rifles, 71 handguns, 15 traditional rifles, 215 arrows, nine cars, three motorcycles and thousands of bullets were seized along with the suspects.

In December, Ethiopia established a command post to deal with a security crisis along the Benishangul Gumuz and Oromia regional states.

The establishment of the command post came days after 10 civilians were killed by a land mine explosion in western Benishangul Gumuz regional state.

The border areas of the two regional states have in recent years witnessed deadly unrest involving various ethnic groups residing in the border areas. The dispute is reportedly over access to land and state resources. Enditem

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