The African Union has called for an immediate release of more than 100 women and children, who were abducted during an attack in which more than 200 people were killed in Ethiopia.

The incident happened on Friday in Gambella, which hosts thousands of South Sudanese refugees.

The reports also indicate that 75 people were wounded and more than 2,000 cattle raided.

Ethiopian authorities confirmed the incident and announced that their defense forces have started searching for the attackers, who they said crossed the border from South Sudan.

In a statement the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, condemns the attack in the strongest terms.

She looks forward to joint efforts by the Governments of South Sudan and Ethiopia to bring to justice those who committed the act.

Ms. Dlamini-Zuma expressed the readiness of the AU to contribute to the process of justice through the existing regional and continental mechanisms.

These include the Djibouti Process on the Enhancement of Security Cooperation in the East Africa Region and the AU Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation, known as the Niamey Convention, which contains provisions relating to border security.

The South Sudanese government in Juba said yesterday it had not received an official communication from their Ethiopian counterparts and called for investigation into the killings.