OLF Shane armed groups continue to attack civilians because Ethiopian government and Oromia regional state failed to take action to stop the attacks, says the council
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Days after hundreds of civilians were massacred in the latest string of attacks in the Oromia region, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council released a statement highlighting prevalent killings and kidnappings.
The Council recalled that it has been calling for the Federal government of Ethiopia and Oromia regional state to take appropriate action to end frequent attacks by armed groups, mainly OLF-Shane.
It said the attacks in the region are continuing because both levels of government did not work to resolve the security problem in the region. It said the security issue in the region did not get the attention it deserves.
To demonstrate the attacks are still continuing in the region, the council shared information about the latest incident which it said was gathered from residents from the area who managed to escape the attack.
On December 3, 2022 – The militant Shane group entered Anger Guten town of Gida Yana district in East Wollega Zone in the early hours of 5:30 a.m. where it massacred many civilians. The council unspecified the number of casualties.
Most of the residents in the city are said to have fled to the nearby jungles. Only vulnerable groups ( children and elders ) remained in the town. And they are fearing for their lives that the militant group might return.
What is known about the latest attack in that town is that OLF -Shane was heavily armed. From other reports, Oromia regional state special forces were involved in the attack against civilians.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council noted the recurring and prevalent nature of the attacks by the armed OLF Shane group in the region.
The recent kidnappings of Dangote Cement Factory employees in Adea Berga ( only 100 kilometers west of Addis Ababa), the attack on long-distance truck drivers in the Metehara area in East Shoa, attacks in West Shoa and Wollega are some of the security incidents that the rights group highlighted in the statement.
The attacks bear a character of ethnic-based ones in some places and in others communities without discrimination are attacked, according to the statement.
In the past five years, ethnic Amhara subsistence farming communities have been targeted by radical groups and thousands of unarmed innocent civilians have been massacred including women, elders and children.
Government authorities – both from Federal and Oromia regional levels of government – are yet to remark about the latest incident.
The Oromia regional state has been making claims, for about three years now, that the OLF -Shane is not in a position to pose a security threat.
Ethiopians are increasingly expressing frustrations and disenchantment about the repeated failure of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration to protect civilians in the Oromo region of Ethiopia.
PM Abiy Ahmed made two public appearances in the past two days ( one of the occasions was actually to inaugurate public-funded parking in Addis Ababa) and he never mentioned the security incident that claimed hundreds of innocent civilians in Oromia.
The Ministry of Government Communication Services did not issue a statement either.
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