Reports from Tole Kebele, Gimbi Woreda, West Welega Zone, Oromia State, indicate that a number of civilians have been killed by militants.
The militant group, which is said to be active in various parts of western Oromia, on Saturday, June 19, 2022. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) stated that “attacks on civilians have resulted in significant loss of life, physical and property damage.”
The Oromia regional government said in a statement that the militant group had carried out an attack in Tole Kebele, West Welega Gimbi Woreda.
The Human Rights Commission and the regional government have blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLF) for the undisclosed attack in Tole Kebele, Gimbi Woreda.The Oromia Communication Bureau described the attack as “brutal against innocent people.”The federal government has not yet commented on the attack in western Oromia.
“More than 80 Amhara members, mostly women and children, were killed in the attack,” Baladeras told on its social media page on Saturday.
Hone Mandefro, director of advocacy for the Amhara Association in the United States, told the BBC that the attack targeted Amharas and that hundreds of people, including women and children, had been killed.
“The militant group targeted five villages inhabited by Amhara people and killed about 600 people,” he said, citing local sources.
Oromo members of the Amhara National Liberation Front (ONLF)has been accused in the past of targeting civilians. The group has not yet commented on the attack.
Government security forces are cracking down on the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which has been branded a terrorist by the House of Peoples’ Representatives.
The Oromia Regional State announced that the federal and regional security forces will intensify their operations against the militant group following the attack on the residents of Tole Kebele, West Welega Gimbi Woreda last Saturday.
The Commissioner-General of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, Dr. Daniel Bekele, has called on the government to take necessary steps to prevent further attacks on civilians.
He urged the government to “take appropriate precautions against civilian casualties in any case and to find a lasting solution to the problem.”
