June 21,2022:More than 100 people, mostly from the Amhara ethnic group, have been killed in an attack in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, according to witnesses, who blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) for one of the deadliest attacks in recent memory.
However, two other witnesses said more than 200 people have been killed. The regional government in Oromia confirmed the attack but did not give details about casualty figures. The central government in Addis Ababa could not be reached for comments.
“I have counted 230 bodies. I am afraid this is the deadliest attack against civilians we have seen in our lifetime,” Abdul-Seid Tahir, a resident of Gimbi county, told The Associated Press news agency after barely escaping the attack on Saturday.
Earlier, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had condemned what he described as “horrific acts” in Oromiya, without giving details. “Attacks on innocent civilians and destruction of livelihoods by illegal and irregular forces is unacceptable,” he said on Twitter.
The attack comes as ethnic strife threatens to break apart Africa’s second-most populous country. Fighting that erupted in 2020 in the northern Tigray region spilled over into the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara last year.
Thousands of people have been killed, and several million others have been displaced from their homes as a result of the fighting between forces loyal to Abiy and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and their allies.
The violence has eased since the federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire in March.
On Sunday, the government-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission called on the federal government to find a “lasting solution” to the killing of civilians and protect them from such attacks.
