An unknown number of villagers have been killed in an ethnically motivated massacre in western Ethiopia, the country’s human rights commission said, as federal forces scramble to stabilize the area after a mid-June attack by gunmen who they killed hundreds of people.
Oromiya region, where the Amhara are a minority ethnic group, has been experiencing many years of unrest, rooted in protests over political marginalization and neglect by the central government.
The “massacre” took place on Monday in two villages in Kelem Wallega, which is about 400 kilometers west of the capital Addis Ababa, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said.
She blamed the killings on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a banned organization that has split from an opposition party. The OLA rejected the accusations and blamed paramilitary groups.
Reuters has not yet been able to independently verify either side’s claims.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed blamed the OLA for the attacks, which he described as a “massacre”.
OLA spokesman Odaa Tarbii rejected the accusations, saying that government-allied militias were responsible for the carnage and that federal forces recently deployed to the area did nothing to prevent it.
“The prime minister’s accusation is an attempt by the regime to distract from the fact that it is fighting to maintain order on its own,” Odaa told Reuters.
Ethiopian government spokesman Legese Tulu said for his part that OLA is trying to blame the government, which is a tactic “used by any terrorist organization to hide its evil work”.
A government spokesman did not elaborate on the casualties, while a spokesman for the Oromia regional administration did not respond to requests for comment.
About 340 people were killed in the same district last month, according to Abiy’s spokesman, as the government and OLA trade accusations.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission appealed for immediate stabilization of the region.
“The continued lack of security in the area and what appears to be an ethnically targeted killing of residents must stop immediately,” Commission chief Daniel Bekele said in a statement issued late Monday night.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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