OLA Reportedly Killed At Least 16, Wounded 14 Others in Benishangul Gumuz

Borkena

Toronto – Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) appears to be still operating in the Benishangul Gumuz region of Ethiopia. 

BBC Amharic, on Thursday, reported that at least 16 civilians, including children, are killed and 14 others wounded in the Kamashi zone of the region which shares regional boundaries with the Oromia region of Ethiopia, particularly three districts of Wollega zone. 

Lemesa Neno, a member of the region’s parliament, told the source that the tragedy occurred on Wednesday around 6 a.m.  Two other residents from the area have also confirmed the story to the source. 

Benyan Mengesha, head of the region’s Peace and Security office, has confirmed the incident and linked it to “Shene”  (OLA). 

On that day gunmen entered Anger Miti kebele of Mizhenga district and launched an attack. Six of the victims are reported to be children 

Two residents from the Kebele are quoted as saying “without anything, without any conflict they came around 12 o’clock [ 6 a.m. local time] and started massacring..” 

Another resident who lost family members in the attack said the attack lasted all day long. 

BBC Amharic reported that Lemesa Neno, who is also the director of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Coordination Office Director,  has confirmed that the massacre took place in a way described by the residents. 

“An entire family was massacred. From another family only the spouse and the boy survived ; all his children including the girls were massacred,” Lemesa told BBC Amharic. 

While the number of casualties he told BBC Amharic 16 deaths and 4 wounds, two residents of the Kebelle where the massacre took place say the number of those wounded was 14. 

The children killed in the attack are between six and 14 years of age. Three of the children were grandkids and the remaining three were nieces and nephews.   Six of the victims are women. 

12 of those wounded in the attack are reportedly hospitalized. It is unspecified as to what happened to the remaining two who were wounded in the attack. 

It is also indicated that a resident from the kebele told BBC Amharic that one of them died in the hospital. 

Members of the Defense Force are reportedly deployed to the area after the incident. 

“The security force has arrived at the place; necessary works are being done. The community is returning unless it is someone who is not returning in a personal capacity. We have secured the place,”Benyan Mengesha  told BBC Amharic. 

This is the second incident in less than two months. Last month, the OLA gunmen reportedly killed two civilians in the same area. 

The militant ethnic Oromo nationalist group – OLA – has not remarked about the incident at the time of this writing. It has been linked to many massacres and kidnappings in the region over the past six years. 

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