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One of the victims was a pregnant woman whose due date was close. Most of the victims are ethnic Amhara and Garages
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Toronto – Militant gunmen reportedly killed 38 civilians in two districts of East Show, Oromia region of Ethiopia. The incident occurred on Wednesday in the evening, according to residents from the area who spoke to VOA Amharic service.
Residents from Birbisa and Dereba kebeles (localities) of Dugda district of East Shoa confirmed to the source that gunmen launched an attack and killed civilians.
Six of the residents who spoke to VOA Amharic include children who lost their parents in the attack.
Ashenafi Bogale is a resident of Birbisa kebele. The source cited him as saying “I was out of home for work. Four of my family members including my pregnant wife were killed in the attack.”
His wife was approaching her due date, it is indicated. “My mother, my wife whose due date was close and my children – I lost them at once,” Ashenafi Bogale added. He also said that his daughter was shot and injured as she was trying to escape, and is currently in Adama hospital.
Dejene Tilahun is also a resident of Birbisa kebele. He said his 77 year old father was killed in the attack. The victim was hiding in a farm as the gunmen entered the premises of the residence but when the gunmen moved to torch the houses with fire, the 77 years old man came from his hiding in the farm to beg them not to burn the house with fire.
He was shot dead. “It was our mother who found his body. He was shot in the chest,” Dejene told VOA Amharic.
Outside of his own family members,, he told VOA Amharic about the killings of his neighbors. ” A pregnant mother and an elderly man who is also blind were killed. The attack was horrifying. There are talks that perpetrators of such an attack are Shane gunmen. we do not know. It is perplexing.”
The area is adjacent to the Sodo district of Guraghe zone. According to Dejene, the main targets of the attack were ethnic Amhara and Gurage.
No security forces were deployed to the area. The security in the area is not reliable. Dejene said his father’s relatives are displaced. The attack lasted until midnight but security forces were deployed to the area in the morning, according to residents.
“The attack that occurred to us is very horrifying and a heavy accident. I do not have a word to describe it. My grandfather and two of my cousins were killed. Our house is burned. somehow I managed to save my family. We laid to rest those who were killed. Even now we are in the open,” said Gemechu Araba who is a resident of Dereba Kebele. He also said that more than 40 people were killed in the attack which happened around 9 p.m. local time.
Gemechu told VOA Amharic that there are those who lost five or six family members. “Shane gunmen perpetrated the attack. It is very sad. They carried out the attack saying that we support the government ; are armed,” Gemechu added.
He said many of the victims are Sodo gurages, and that children, women and elderly are among the victims.
Other residents also described the attack as “horrifying.” Some residents spoke about the tragic incident on condition of anonymity out of security concerns. They believe the attack was an orchestrated one. Some were burned to death inside their homes.
Funerals took place in Dugda district for 38 of the victims.
Tekalign Nigussie is head of the East Gurage zone administration peace and security department. He confirmed that the attack was horrifying. However, he did not confirm the number of victims killed in the accident. Yet, he confirmed that some were killed when their houses were burned while they were inside and others were shot dead.
VOA Amharic said that Oromia regional authorities did not comment on the incident.
Shane – Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) as it calls itself – extensively operates in the Oromia region of Ethiopia and is believed to get clandestine support from those in the government structure. This week, the defense force and Oromia regional authorities claimed that “Shane is weakened and is no longer in a position to cause security danger to the country.”
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This is when we should all unite and condemn such barbaric act perpetrated against innocent civilians. I just talked to one of my relatives in the capital and I was told that the killing was definitely carried out by those thugs organized in a group that billed itself as a liberation front of my proud Oromos. There is no question about it. What I was told is the official of the district who is an Oromo himself was said to be firmly against the OLA and he was their worst nightmare. He knew their number on the field and they had tried to take him out several times before and they failed losing so many of their thugs. It seems his luck ran out and they successfully took him out and many of his riflemen. Then they went into the homes of the residents and murdered and shot everyone in their sights. Victims included from several ethnic backgrounds and mostly those who owned small shops.
This must be reported to the UN and ICC. It is an outright crime against humanity and the US State Department should designate OLA a terrorist organization. But watch now these bigots among us to come out and tell us that this crime was committed solely on Oromos by the government forces or better yet by Neftegnas. You watch. I bet you they are doing that on their social media and other mumbling forums already. Others will tell us this repugnant and barbaric massacre was carried on Amharas only. That is why I don’t always believe what I read on our websites. I am lucky enough to have merchant relatives who made the capital their residence and setting up shops there since the late 1960’s after moving from Western Hararghe. They are my verifiers.
As always and without doubt, the Oromia Regional admin is part and parcel of the violence, killing spree machine since 2018 when they first carried these kinds of barbaric attack. They massacred and burned alive poor Somali ethnic minority in the East Harar in serious of broad daylight orgy killings. Nobody asked Abiy, Shimales and Lema Magarsa so far as what has happened back then and no one dares to ask now either. The reason they claim were that victims were suspected as being supporters of the government or something they don’t approve.They are still doing exactly the same things again and again over with no accountability whatsoever. The the big nexus is the local cadres, politicians, security head offices that carry out these kinds of evil operation when they got green light from the top.