New hospital confirmations push the death toll higher following Saturday’s coordinated assault in the Oromia Region’s Shirka Woreda
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — The death toll from Saturday’s coordinated assault in Shirka Woreda, Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, continues to rise as hospital officials confirm additional fatalities among severely injured victims, according to a report by BBC Amharic, marking the latest string in a multi-year campaign of targeted violence against civilian communities.
Local church sources and surviving residents in Shirka Woreda confirmed to BBC Amharic that at least 46 Orthodox Christian followers, including five young children, were killed during the early morning raid on October 24, 2026, in Birbiru Chole Kebele. Eyewitnesses disclosed that 39 of the deceased were laid to rest in a mass grave at a local church, while more than 20 wounded residents remain in critical condition. The assault followed separate attacks between October 12 and 17 across Shirka, Honkolo Wabe, and Merti woredas, where over 21 civilians were killed, including 15 fatalities in Gora Silingo Kebele.
The latest carnage reflects a chronic pattern of violence across the former Arsi Zone. Investigations detailed by BBC Amharic and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) document that identity- and faith-based attacks have claimed at least 458 civilian lives between 2021 and mid-2026, with an additional 38 residents subjected to enforced disappearance. Subsequent massacres over the past two years have further inflated the death toll. In February 2026 alone, consecutive armed raids across Shirka Woreda’s Jawi Wachu Kebele and Merti Woreda’s Fekersa Kebele resulted in more than 30 deaths, including 19 civilians killed in a single morning raid. Previous waves in late 2023 and mid-2024 claimed over 120 lives, including a November 2023 attack in Sole Digelu and Tijo Lebu where 28 residents—ranging from a 28-day-old infant to a 70-year-old elder—were dragged from their homes and executed.
Political and military accountability for the continuous bloodshed remains fiercely contested. Federal authorities and Oromia Region Communication Head Hailu Adugna have repeatedly attributed the massacres to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA)—referred to by the government as “OLF-Shene”—accusing the group of striking soft civilian and religious targets to incite inter-communal conflict. The OLA has consistently denied involvement, counter-accusing government forces and allied militias. Human rights monitors and civil society groups continue to criticize the federal government for failing to provide security guarantees, noting that official claims of counter-insurgency operations have failed to stem the recurring massacres.
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