In a statement on Twitter on Monday, Abiy said the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) was “causing damage” to civilians as its fighters carried out an attack by security forces in Oromia. “Citizens living in the Qellem Wollega zone of Oromia state have been massacred,” he said, without elaborating. “We will pursue this terrorist group to the end and eliminate it,” he added. Abiy’s office did not provide details on the deaths and the information could not be verified as access to Oromia is limited. The area where the killings took place was also in a communications blackout. Officials have blamed the OLA for a series of killings targeting the Amhara, Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group, although the rebels have denied responsibility. The United States-based Amhara Association of America (AAA) told AFP news agency that Monday’s attack targeted Amhara in a village in the Hawa Gelan district of Kelem Volega. He said telephone communication in the remote area has been cut since noon. One survivor told Amhara Media Corporation, a state-run regional broadcaster, that “no one came to save us”. “They [the attackers] they are gone and now bodies are being recovered, 300 so far [bodies] they have come together,” said the survivor. “But it’s still early days, there are many others we don’t know where they are.” AAA, citing sources on the ground, told the Associated Press news agency it believed 150 to 160 people may have been killed in the attacks. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), an independent body linked to the state, said it was alarmed by the reports and called for “urgent reinforcement” of government security forces to prevent further civilian deaths. It said in a statement that government security forces were reported to have arrived in the area, but that residents continued to seek shelter elsewhere. “The continued insecurity in the area and what appears to be the ethnically targeted killing of residents must stop immediately,” said EHRC head Daniel Bekele. Ethiopia’s armed forces have been battling an OLA insurgency in Oromia, the largest and most populous region bordering South Sudan, for years. In June, several hundred people, mostly Amhara, were killed by gunmen in Tole village in West Volega, an area adjacent to Kelem Volega, according to witnesses. Local authorities said the OLA was responsible, but rebels denied any role in the killings and blamed a pro-government militia. No official tally has been released, but Abiy’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum told reporters on June 30 that 338 victims had been identified so far. Michele Bachelet, the UN rights chief, called on Ethiopian authorities to conduct “immediate, impartial and thorough” investigations into the Tole attack. Also in June, the OLA attacked the regional capital of Gambela – the first such raid on a major city by the rebels. The US-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday it had documented serious abuses in Oromia, including in the west where an “abusive” government campaign against OLA had caught civilians in the crossfire. It said the Tigray conflict in northern Ethiopia overshadowed a “persistent cycle of violence” against civilians by security forces and armed groups in Oromia. OLA last year allied with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has been fighting government forces in the north since November 2020.
