At least 35 people have lost their lives in a new armed attack that took place in the town of Robe Woreda, in the southeast of Ethiopia. This is the second episode of violence in a few weeks targeting Christian-Orthodox communities in this part of the country, according to an on-the-ground investigation by the newspaper "Addis Standard".
According to local sources cited by this outlet, the assault was carried out in a coordinated manner, with gunfire against security posts and in the vicinity of a church. The casualty figures range between the 35 deaths —buried in the Endeto Debre temple— and the 40 deaths that other witnesses point to after the death of an injured person who was taken to a health center.
The collected accounts indicate that among the dead there would be between 25 and 26 members of the local kebele militias, in addition to several civilians, including two elderly women and two minors. The sources describe intense exchanges of fire between the attackers and the local security forces, without it having been clarified so far who is behind the assault.
"Sometimes they shoot civilian areas; other times, they shoot government security positions (...) Tomorrow, when they leave, the problem will show up again. When they come, they control it, but when they go, the others do", one of the witnesses reports, who considers the actions of the security forces insufficient.
The incursion in Robe Woreda adds to the recent attacks in Merti Woreda and Shirka Woreda, where the Ethiopian Orthodox Church recorded 14 and 46 deaths, on October 20 and 24, respectively. Regarding this latter attack, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has raised the death toll to 48 and has blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA-Shane), calling on the federal Government to reinforce the protection of the civilian population and to restructure the regional security forces.
"In this place, Christians are practically displaced. If you asked me right now, I have no hope of staying here, because I would prefer to flee in order to survive in the long term", says this resident witness.
The Oromia regional Government reported last Monday the detention of 73 people in connection with these attacks, presenting the arrests as part of a series of security operations against OLF-Shane and other groups that it considers a threat.
Despite these detentions, the identities of the alleged perpetrators have not been disclosed and the conditions under which the investigations are carried out have not been able to be independently verified.
In this context, the United States ambassador to Ethiopia, Ervin Massinga, met last Thursday with the chief commissioner of the EHRC, Berhanu Adello, and reiterated Washington’s support for the institution’s work.
In a statement released by the Embassy of the United States, Massinga expressed the "support of the United States for the detailed and transparent reports of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission on the recent killings in Arsi and its efforts to facilitate the release of prisoners at the beginning of this year".