Ethiopia: 54 killed in schoolyard massacre

Survivors of a massacre perpetrated by rebels in western Ethiopia on Sunday counted 54 bodies in a schoolyard, the latest attack in which members of ethnic minorities have been deliberately targeted, Amnesty International said.

Human rights groups wonder why federal soldiers left the area hours before the attackers entered and attacked the Amhara ethnic group.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed denounced the killing of people on identity grounds, adding that security forces had been deployed to the area and “began to take action.”

Ethnic violence in Ethiopia represents the biggest challenge yet for the prime minister, who was the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize last year for his sweeping political reforms.

“Ethiopia’s enemies are vowing to rule the country or ruin it, and they are doing everything they can to achieve it,” Abiy said in a Facebook post. “One of their tactics is to arm civilians and carry out barbaric attacks based on identity. (To me) this is heartbreaking.”

The Ethiopian government blamed a rebel group, the Oromo Liberation Army, for the attacks in the extreme west of Oromia, in an area bordering South Sudan and a few hundred kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa.

The head of the Oromia region police commission, Ararsa Merdasa, told the state broadcaster that the death toll was 32 and that “some 200 families have fled the area.”

Survivors of the attack in the Guliso district of the West Wellega area told Amnesty International that federal troops had unexpectedly withdrawn and that rebels arrived hours later, identifying themselves as OLA and announcing that they now controlled the area.

“The militants rounded up people who were unable to flee, mainly women, children and the elderly, and killed them,” the Amnesty statement said. The survivors hid in a nearby forest. One told the human rights group that he found the bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and three children in the schoolyard with gunshot wounds.

“The fact that this horrendous incident occurred shortly after government troops abruptly withdrew from the area under inexplicable circumstances raises questions that must be answered,” said Amnesty International regional director Deprose Muchena.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission in its own statement noted the government death toll at 32, but said preliminary evidence it obtained “indicates that the number is very likely to exceed that number.”

The attackers numbered as many as 60, the commission said, citing sources. The ethnic Amhara “were dragged from their homes and taken to a school, where they were killed.”

The commission urged the federal government to “shed light on the reasons behind the withdrawal of the military from an area long known as vulnerable to attack” and ensure that civilians are protected.

The Amhara are the second most populous ethnic group in Ethiopia after the Oromos. They have also been targeted by gunmen in the southern and western regions of Benishangul Gumuz in recent weeks, killing several dozen.

The communications office of the Oromia region in a statement described the latest assault as a “brutal terrorist attack.” Getachew Balcha, the spokesman for the region, said his goal was to create havoc and put pressure on citizens.

“The armed group gathered 200 people for a meeting around 5 pm and then started shooting at them,” a survivor said, citing the Amhara region affiliate station Amhara Mass Media Agency. The survivor said a school and about 120 houses were burned.

“The government has failed in its duty to protect the safety of citizens,” Dessalegn Chanie, a senior member of the opposition Amhara National Movement party, told The Associated Press, adding that the federal system based on Amhara’s language Ethiopia is the main cause of the killings: “Ethnic Amhara residing outside the Amhara region are being labeled as outsiders and are exposed to repeated attacks.”

According to the system, Afan Oromo speakers generally live in Oromia, Amharic speakers generally live in the Amhara region, and so on. The structure gives the locals more voice in local affairs.

The Oromo Liberation Army has not commented on the attack allegations. He has denied similar reports in the past.

The rebel group, a splinter wing of the Oromo Liberation Front party, has used the western Oromia region as a base since its members returned to Ethiopia after Abiy shortly after taking office in 2018 invited groups once banned to return home from exile.

– Associated Press