Attacks kill at least 60 Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, church says

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Two attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, the country’s Orthodox Church said, urging authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Holy Synod said Monday that 14 people were killed in Merti district on Oct. 20 and a further 46 in Shirka district on Oct. 24. Both districts are in Oromia’s Arsi Zone.

More than 20 people were seriously wounded and 20 homes were burned down, the church said, describing the killings as “brutal and merciless massacres.”

Oromia regional government spokesperson Hailu Adugna blamed the Oromo Liberation Army, or OLA, for the attacks. He accused the rebels and their allies of trying to provoke ethnic and religious conflict to divert attention from military losses in northern Ethiopia. He presented no evidence supporting the accusations in the statement.

Adugna expressed sorrow over the deaths and destruction and said that regional authorities had begun taking action against those responsible. He pledged assistance to people wounded or displaced.

The OLA couldn't be reached for comment. Its leader, Kumsa Diriba, also known as Jaal Marroo, denied that his fighters target civilians in an interview with The Associated Press published in February.

“Our war is not against the people,” he said at the time.

The OLA is one of seven groups in the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, formed in September with the aim of removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government. Other members include the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Amhara Fano National Movement.

The church said that the attacks violated constitutional protections for religious freedom and the right to life. It called on authorities to publicly condemn the killings and prevent further violence.

Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest region and home to roughly 40 million people, has endured a conflict between government forces and the OLA since 2018. Other armed groups and criminal gangs also operate there, with civilians facing killings, extortion and kidnapping.

U.N. investigators have accused the OLA of killings, rapes and kidnappings. Human rights monitors have also documented abuses by government forces, including indiscriminate drone strikes, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.

Sarah Kimani, Amnesty International’s media manager, told the AP in a January interview that the organization’s research documents summary executions, torture, abductions and rape by both government forces and the OLA.

She said that internet blackouts and restrictions on independent media and civil society concealed the extent of civilian suffering.

“What we have been able to document now is just the tip of the iceberg,” Kimani said.

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Amir Aman Kiyaro contributed to this report from Hamburg, Germany.