Opposition party officials from the Kore zone allege Guji gunmen from Oromia continue to carry out attacks in many kebeles of Koore zone
borkena
Toronto – Koore zone branch of Ethiopian Citizens For Social Justice Party (EZEMA) is requesting the party’s head office in Addis Ababa to expose continued “invasion,” attack, displacement and road closures to the international community and demand the Ethiopian government to end the problem in the region.
Borkena has received a copy of the letter that is reportedly sent to EZEMA head office. The letter which was dated 05/2/2017 ( October 15, 2024 G.C.) alleges that gunmen West Guji Oromia region have partially controlled Yuro, Tifate, Darba,Gummure, Gamule,Kobo,Golbe, Dano, Kore,Suluko and Shafale kebelles.
It also said that the koore people have vacated Jale and Derbade kebelles fully.
As many as 37,135 people have been displaced from the area since the attack started in 2016 , and they have not returned to their places. Over 253 people have been killed and more than 200 wounded since then, according to the letter.
Zone and region level authorities have been attempting to stifle information about the ongoing attack in the region and labeling reports of atrocities in Kore zone as “the works of those who do no want peace to prevail” in the region.
The letter calls the actions of Guji gunmen as “invasion”, and the purpose is “to ethnic cleanse small ethnic groups like Koore and expand territory.”
According to the Koore zone EZEMA party officials, kombolcha Metare, and Wondo Derba kebeles that were included to Koore zone in 1993 are now included to Oromia region. Furthermore, they say that Neche Sar National park has been a Koore People’s place since ancient times but now the people are being displaced . They allege the areas are now showing as part of Oromia in Google maps.
Road closure is another issue that was mentioned in the letter. The distance between Koore to Addis Ababa used to be about 475 kilometers but that road is now closed and residents are forced to take a 780 kilometers of road to Addis Ababa. It brought about an economic and social crisis in the area.
Borkena reached out to EZEMA main office via email to see if they could remark about the situation. No response was received at the time of this writing.
There have been recurring reports of killings in the Koore zone. Guji gunmen are linked to the attacks.
EZEMA party officials from the zone are asking for the international community, including human rights groups, to understand that there has been an ongoing rights abuse and killings in the zone. They also asked EZEMA main office to demand government to stop the attacks and open road closures. It is noted in the letter that the government has been repeatedly contacted about it but there does not seem to be a political will to act to resolve the Koore people’s security concerns and “ethnic cleansing” attacks.
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