Borkena
Toronto – Gunmen reportedly killed four civilians and kidnapped ten others in east Guraghe zone, Sodo district, in the central Ethiopia region. Fifteen homes were also torched.
The region’s security office has confirmed the story to Borkena.
The office linked the attack to Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a militant ethnic Oromo Nationalist Group which the government calls “Oneg Shene.”
The Ethiopian Parliament has designated the group as a “terrorist organization” in May 2021.
According to security officials in the region, the group carried out the attack on Thursday in the evening around 6 p.m. in Semero locality of Sodo district.
DW Amharic has also covered the story. Residents it spoke to confirmed that four civilians were killed and ten kidnapped in the east Gurage zone.
Residents from the area say the Gunmen crossed to the area from the South West Shoa zone of the Oromia region. They reportedly besieged the town and started intense gunfire.
“They dragged four farmers out of their homes and shot them to death,” residents are cited as saying.
The rest of the residents in the small village town had to abandon some and started escaping. Children and women, including pregnant ones, are said to be among those abducted as they were unable to escape.
Fifteen houses were said to be burned down.
The four victims were laid to rest on Friday. However, the whereabouts of those kidnapped remains unknown at the time of this writing.
Ransom kidnapping has been prevalent in many parts of Ethiopia but has been more common in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. OLA has been linked to dozens and dozens of kidnappings and civilian killings not only in Oromia but also in regions like Benishangul, Amhara, and now Central Ethiopia.
OLA has not responded to the alleged involvement in Gurage zone killings. However, it released a statement Friday making claims that “Government supported Fano forces” are unleashing rights abuse in the East Wollega zone of the Oromia region.
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