Armed militants carried out a deadly cross-border raid in the Nedele and Shafule border areas, prompting urgent calls for accountability from local authorities
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — Five farmers were killed, two others were injured, and over 200 head of livestock were looted in a cross-border attack by armed militants in the Nedele and Shafule border areas, which connect the South Ethiopia Region’s Burji and Kore zones with the West Guji Zone in Oromia.
Local residents and eyewitnesses reported that the assault occurred while the farmers were engaged in communal agricultural labor (debo) to take advantage of delayed seasonal rains while simultaneously tending to their cattle. Victims included residents from Nedele Kebele in Burji Zone and the Shafule area of Kore Zone, with local reports confirming that brothers were among the deceased. In addition to the cattle rustling, property losses from the raid are estimated at over 1 million Birr.
Soyama Woreda Police Commander Engineer Eshetu Petros confirmed attending joint funeral services for the victims, specifying that four of the deceased were from Burji Zone and one from Kore Zone. Commander Eshetu stated that the armed group penetrated deep into the farming areas from the West Guji direction, noting that local authorities in West Guji cited a heavy regional presence of non-state armed groups (Shene) as a barrier to direct intervention, leaving local administration to escalate reports to higher regional security organs.
In an official condolence statement, the Burji Zone Administration condemned the killings in Nedele Kebele, stating that extremist elements originating from West Guji Zone executed the fatal attack and property plunder. The zonal administration formally called upon West Guji authorities and the Oromia Regional State to identify, apprehend, and prosecute those responsible for the raid.
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