The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has confirmed that more than 60 people were slaughtered in a series of horrific attacks across the Shirka district. Eyewitnesses described a coordinated ambush where victims were surrounded from all four directions, leaving them defenseless against the onslaught.
Among the dead were five children and a 75-year-old man, while 20 homes were reduced to ash. A church official characterized the event as a massacre, noting that security forces were present but ultimately failed to halt the slaughter.
Local officials have pointed the finger at the Alliance for Survival, a rebel coalition that includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), though the group continues to deny its involvement in such atrocities.
This tragedy is not an isolated incident; the Ethiopian Human Rights Council reported that 458 people have been killed in this area over the last four years, with followers of the Orthodox Church specifically targeted in religiously motivated violence.
Despite the Orthodox Church repeatedly warning government authorities about the escalating insecurity, no effective solution has been implemented. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has previously claimed that these attacks on religious institutions are part of a broader agenda to destabilize the nation.
As residents flee their homes in fear, the failure of the state to protect its citizens from these targeted religious purges remains a glaring indictment of the current security apparatus.
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