According to two witnesses and an opposition political party, an aerial strike on a church in Ethiopia’s Oromiya region resulted in the deaths of eight individuals and the injury of five others as they collected corn. The government, however, has dismissed these accounts as “an absolute lie,” said government spokesperson Legesse Tulu.
Peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the rebel Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) concluded without a deal in November, leading to sporadic attacks in Oromiya, the country’s largest region.
The attack took place at the compound of the Baro Full Gospel Church in the Horo Gudru Wellega zone, around 200 km northwest of the capital Addis Ababa, while people were gathering to collect corn from a field, according to witnesses.
Among the deceased were two church band keyboard players, two deacons, and a choir singer, as reported by an anonymous member of the church who also stated, “I heard a strange and terrifying sound on my way to the church for the harvest. I saw bodies and flesh scattered in the cornfield.”
Billene Seyoum, spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s Office, Oromiya regional spokesman Hailu Adugna, and military spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane did not respond to requests for comment. Badassa Lemessa, head of the local office of the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), stated that reports of the attack had been received and that an investigation was underway.
A second witness of the attack, a resident of the area, speculated that the group was likely killed by a drone strike, explaining, “It wasn’t a helicopter. We couldn’t see it. It was very far away and the sound was like a drone.”
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is an outlawed splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a previously banned opposition party that returned from exile after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed office in 2018. The group’s grievances are based on the alleged marginalization and neglect of people in Oromiya. The OLF also attributed the deaths on Monday to a drone strike.
(Reporting by Nairobi Newsroom; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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