Reports of the massacre surfaced on Sunday, as survivors described one of the deadliest such incidents in several years in Ethiopia. The country’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, condemned what he described as “horrific acts” in Oromia, but gave no details about the violence. “Attacks on innocent civilians and the destruction of livelihoods by illegal and irregular forces are unacceptable,” Abby wrote on Twitter on Monday, pledging “zero tolerance for horrific acts whose elements are primarily intended to intimidate communities.” . Oromia, the seat of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, has experienced unrest for many years, rooted in complaints of political marginalization and neglect by the central government. Abiy Ahmed is the first Oromo to head the Ethiopian government, but some Oromos believe he has betrayed the interests of the community. Two residents who described the attack on Saturday said the victims were ethnic Amharas, a minority in the area. There was no indication that the attack was directly linked to a conflict in the northern Tigray region, which began in November 2020 and has killed thousands and displaced millions. The bomber struck shortly after noon in the Gimbi area of western Wollega in western Oromia. One resident put the death toll at 260, another said 320. Residents refused to give their names for fear of their safety. “So far we have buried 260 people, in whom I participated in the collection of the bodies and the burial of the bodies. We just buried them on a farm. “We buried 50 to 60 corpses in single graves,” said one resident. He said he had survived hiding in a ditch, but lost four brothers and three cousins in the attack. The other resident said the attackers were ethnic Oromos from a group called the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). “It was an Amhara massacre,” he said, adding that he had survived hiding in a forest and had heard the perpetrators speak the Oromo language. On Sunday, a witness said the local Amhara community was desperately seeking to relocate “before another round of mass killings”, adding that ethnic Amharas who had settled in the area about 30 years ago in resettlement programs were being “killed like chickens”. In a statement, the Oromia regional government blamed the Oromo Liberation Army, saying the rebels attacked “because they could not resist the operations they started.” [federal] security forces”. OLA is an illegal splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front, a former banned opposition group that returned from exile after Abiy took office in 2018. The group formed an alliance last year with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which the federal government is fighting in the northern region. There was no indication of TPLF involvement in Saturday’s attack on Gimbi. In recent months, a new government offensive has forced the OLA to withdraw from some areas where it previously had significant influence. The massacre follows a series of counterattacks by the team last week. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST An OLA spokesman, Odaa Tarbii, denied the allegations. “The attack you are referring to was carried out by the regime army and the local militia as they retreated from their Gimbi camp following our recent attack,” he told the Associated Press. “They fled to an area called Tole, where they attacked the local population and destroyed their property in retaliation for their support of the OLA. “Our fighters did not even reach that area when the attacks took place.” Ethiopia is experiencing widespread ethnic tensions in several areas, most of them for historical grievances and political tensions. The Amhara people, the second largest ethnic group among Ethiopia’s population of over 110 million, have often been targeted in areas such as Oromia. Will Davison, an international expert on the International Crisis Group in Ethiopia, said the situation in Oromia was deteriorating. “The problems have political roots and there is no indication that they are being addressed. “So at the moment it means more and more violence on both sides.”
