Witnesses in Ethiopia say greater than 200 ethnic Amhara have been killed in an assault within the nation’s Oromia area and are blaming a insurgent group.
t is without doubt one of the deadliest such assaults in current reminiscence as ethnic tensions proceed in Africa’s second most populous nation.
“I’ve counted 230 our bodies. I’m afraid that is the deadliest assault towards civilians we’ve got seen in our lifetime,” stated Abdul-Seid Tahir, a resident of Gimbi county, after barely escaping the assault on Saturday.
“We’re burying them in mass graves and we’re nonetheless accumulating our bodies. Federal military items have now arrived, however we worry that the assaults might proceed in the event that they depart.”
One other witness, who gave solely his first title Shambel over fears for his security, stated the native Amhara group is now desperately searching for to be relocated someplace else “earlier than one other spherical of mass killings occur.”
He stated ethnic Amhara, who settled within the space 30 years in the past as a part of resettlement initiatives, have been now being “killed like chickens”.
Each witnesses blamed the Oromo Liberation Military (OLA) for the assaults. In an announcement, the Oromia regional authorities additionally blamed the OLA, saying the rebels attacked “after being unable to withstand the operations launched by (federal) safety forces”.
Nonetheless, an OLA spokesman, Odaa Tarbii, denied the allegations.
“The assault you’re referring to was dedicated by the regime’s navy and native militia as they retreated from their camp in Gimbi following our current offensive,” he stated.
“They escaped to an space referred to as Tole, the place they attacked the native inhabitants and destroyed their property as retaliation for his or her perceived assist for the OLA. Our fighters had not even reached that space when the assaults happened.”
Ethiopia is experiencing widespread ethnic tensions in a number of areas, most of them over historic grievances and political tensions. The Amhara folks, the second-largest ethnic group amongst Ethiopia’s greater than 110 million inhabitants, have been focused ceaselessly in areas similar to Oromia.
The federal government-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Fee referred to as on the federal authorities discover a “lasting answer” to the killing of civilians.
