The incident seems to be an ethnically focused assault, in accordance with a press release from the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Fee (EHRC). That is the second assault in opposition to civilians within the Oromia area in underneath a month.
The EHRC says the populations of the villages of Mender 20 and Mender 21 in Hawa Gelan in Oromia’s Kellem Wollega Zone are “primarily of Amhara ethnic origin” and that residents are hiding elsewhere regardless of safety forces having reached the realm.
“The Shene group [another name for the OLA], fleeing from safety forces, is threatening civilians within the western a part of [Wollega]. Within the Oromia area, civilians in [Kellem Wollega] have been massacred. We mourn the lack of our residents,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tweeted Monday.
“We are going to pursue this terrorist group to the tip and get rid of it with our individuals,” he added.
The OLA denied the accusations and blamed authorities militias for the obvious bloodbath.
“Two divisions of the ENDF (Ethiopian Nationwide Protection Drive) together with allied forces are occupying the cities of [Kellem Wollega], together with Machaara the place civilians have been killed en masse by the regime’s militias as safety forces did nothing. The regime thinks it may possibly simply level fingers & escape accountability,” Odaa Tarbii, OLA’s spokesman tweeted Monday in response to Abiy’s assertion.
The OLA, which aligned with Tigrayan forces in opposition to the federal authorities final 12 months, was designated by the Ethiopian authorities as a terror group in 2021. The group has incessantly been accused of attacking civilians and focusing on ethnic Amharas.
The assaults come amid growing ethnic tensions throughout the nation in recent times.
“The continued insecurity within the space and what seems to be the ethnically focused killing of residents have to be put to a cease instantly,” mentioned EHRC Chief Commissioner Dr. Daniel Bekele, who repeated the EHRC’s name for an pressing ramp up of presidency safety forces to stop additional civilian deaths within the area.
An earlier model of this story referred to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as Ethiopia’s President. This has been corrected.
