Villagers massacred in western Ethiopia, says state-appointed body

The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, blamed the OLA and called the attacks a ‘massacre’. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

 

As federal authorities work to stabilize the region after a mass killing in mid-June, villagers in western Ethiopia have reportedly been killed in an ethnically motivated massacre, according to the nation's state-appointed rights organization.

 

Since many years ago, the Amhara, a minority ethnic community in the Oromiya region, have witnessed violent outbursts that were motivated by resentment over the central government's political negligence and marginalization.

 

According to the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the killings happened on Monday in two villages in Kellem Wollega, roughly 250 miles (400 km) west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

 

It blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a banned splinter group of an opposition party, for the killings. The OLA denied the accusation and said paramilitary groups were responsible.

 

Reuters was not immediately able to verify the claims of either side.

 

Ethiopia’s prime minister, Nobel Peace Prize-winning, Abiy Ahmed, blamed the OLA for the attacks, which he also called a “massacre”.

 

The OLA spokesperson, Odaa Tarbii, rejected the accusations, saying government-allied militias were responsible for the slaughter, while federal troops recently deployed in the area did nothing to stop it. “The prime minister’s accusation is an attempt by the regime to deflect from the fact that it is struggling to maintain order in its own forces,” he told Reuters.

 

Ethiopia’s government spokesperson, Legesse Tulu, said the OLA was attempting to shift blame on to the government, calling it a tactic “any terrorist group uses to hides their evil works”. He did not provide any details on casualties.

 

Oromiya’s regional administration spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

The US-based Amhara Association of America (AAA) tweeted it was “gravely concerned over reports of yet another massacre against Amharas” in the Oromia region.

 

It claimed in a message to AFP that the attack in Mender 20 (Village 20), in the Hawa Gelan area of Qellem Wollega, was directed at people of the ethnic Amhara community. The attack started at 6am local time (0400 BST), and was still going on when one of the AAA's investigators spoke to three eyewitnesses who were sheltering in a nearby forest, the agency added.

 

According to Abiy's spokesperson, some 340 people died in the same area last month amid accusations of culpability from the OLA and the government.

 

The EHRC demanded that the area be stabilized right away.

“The continued insecurity in the area and what appears to be the ethnically targeted killing of residents must be put to a stop immediately,” Daniel Bekele, the head of the EHRC, said in a statement late on Monday.

Source: News Sources