The United Nations on Wednesday urged Ethiopia to allow international observers in to parts of the country hit by deadly weekend clashes between security forces and protesters.

More than 200 people were killed and over 100 children abducted by armed men from South Sudan in a cross-border raid into Ethiopia, the country's leader said.

Ethiopian officials blame Murle tribesmen from South Sudan for a series of deadly attacks on Ethiopian villages in the western Gambella region on Friday.

Armed men from South Sudan have killed around 140 people and kidnapped a number of others in a cross-border raid into Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government said Sunday.

Ethnic Murle gunmen "attacked near Gambella and killed close to 140 people. They also abducted some of them," Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Tewolde Muluteg told AFP.

An Ethiopian rights group on Monday accused government forces of more than 100 extra-judicial killings as well as torture while putting down protests that began last year in the Oromia region.

The Human Rights Council (HRC) of Ethiopia, a non-governmental organization, said security forces had committed "criminal acts" between November 2015 and last month when the protests ended.

At least 75 people have been killed during weeks of protests in Ethiopia which have seen soldiers and police firing on demonstrators, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

"Police and military forces have fired on demonstrations, killing at least 75 protesters and wounding many others, according to activists," HRW said in a statement.

Rights groups on Thursday called on Ethiopia to rein in security forces they say have violently suppressed weeks of protests the government has blamed on "terrorists."

Amnesty International says some 40 people have been killed, criticizing the use of "draconian anti-terrorism measures to quell protests." The government has said five are confirmed dead.

The dream of a new life in South Africa has turned into a nightmare for hundreds of Ethiopian migrants held in overcrowded Malawian jails despite having served their sentences for illegal entry.

"This prison is hell on earth. We are in prison despite paying the fine," a tearful 15-year-old Eyasu Tadiya told AFP inside Dedza prison, 85 kilometers (50 miles) south of Lilongwe, the administrative capital.

Dozens have been killed in Somalia after Shebab gunmen ambushed an army convoy, officials and local elders said Thursday, the latest battles with the al-Qaida-linked insurgents.

Shebab fighters launched attacks on the army convoy near the village of Tulo-Barwao in the southwestern Gedo district of Somalia on Wednesday, a region bordering Ethiopia and Kenya, sparking intense gun battles.

South Sudan's government refused to sign a peace deal with rebels Monday despite the threat of international sanctions, but will return to finalize an agreement within 15 days, mediators said.

Rebel chief Riek Machar however said he had signed a deal, and called on President Salva Kiir to join.

The bars and cafes are full and lively in the northern Ethiopian town of Mekelle -- but they are no longer smoke-filled, with the strict implementation of a smoking ban in public places.

"It's a good thing," said Hiriti, the owner of a small bar in a busy street. "Of course, some customers are not happy, but it also depends on the way you tell them not to smoke.