Amhara’s Regional State Ambushed by the Oromo Liberation Front
GPE Counter Terrorism Unit
April 3, 2021
On Friday, March 19, 2021, more than 20 civilians were massacred in broad daylight when armed militiamen of the Oromo Liberation Front (abbrev. OLF but also known as the Oromo Liberation Army, abbrev. OLA or in Afan Oromo Waraana Bilisummaa Oromoo, abbrev. WBO) invaded the districts of Efrata, Gidim, Majete, Alala, Jille Timuga, and the city of Ataye, North Shewa Zone, Amhara region. Ataye is located 168 miles north of Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa. Credible reports indicate following the gruesome massacre, the OLF/OLA militiamen mutilated and disfigured the bodies of the deceased, destroyed and looted property, robbed banks, and kidnapped several women and children.
Local eyewitnesses, administrative officials, and residents from Ataye and nearby towns told BBC Amharic (@BBCAmharicNews) that OLF/OLA gunmen were heavily armed possessing state-of-the-art sniper rifles, automatic machine guns, and grenades. Using this weaponry they stormed the city, and began to shoot at civilians in roads and inside residential homes. Independent as well as governmental media outlets including Wazema Radio (@WazemaRadio), Amhara Media Center, Ethiopian Satellite Television and Radio (@ESAT), and Amhara Mass Media Agency (abbrev. AMMA, @AMMAONLINE2) have confirmed and reported on this tragic event. In the day following the attack, photographs and video footage of the gruesome massacre were being circulated on social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Facebook and Youtube). A resident from Majete town told Amhara Media Center that the heavily armed OLF/OLA militiamen started the attack in Majete then moved into Alala, Senbete, Jewaha, and moved into Shewa Robit. The resident recalls heavy bullet bombardments and civilians being shot and killed. Most of the civilians in the Majete and surrounding towns were in disbelief and in a state of confusion and panic.
This attack in the Amhara regional state, north Shewa zone is part of an ongoing Amhara genocide waged by the OLA/OLF. In the last couple months, from Wallega, Oromia region, the OLF have killed more than 2000 Amharas and from Metekel area in Benishangul-gumuz, we have seen more than 450,000 Amharas being displaced, killed, and their life worth destroyed (@MoreshWegenieAmaraOrganization). This shows a clear and systematic effort to ethnically target and cleanse Amharas from these regions. The attack of the Amhara regional state on March 19 is part of this unprecedented escalation of ethnic based targeted attacks against Amharas.
Amhara Prosperity Party officials have come out to denounce any reports of attacks being “presented as conflicts motivated by religious differences”, as reports have come out that OLF/OLA ambushed a militia camp in the same way TPLF attacked ENDF while they were sleeping. Although some Oromo activists (OLF/OLA supporters) claim this was started as a result of an Imam being shot, the fact remains that OLF/OLA militia has heavy presence in the Kemise area, Wollo, Amhara region. Moreover, reports indicate the OLF/OLA has been actively engaged in recruiting and training youth in the area and has unsuccessfully attacked Ataye before. According to an ESAT report from April 10, 2019, 27 people were killed when OLF/OLA invaded and attacked innocent civilians — mostly ethnic Amhara. However, the intervention of Amhara police forces resulted in the invading militiamen being forced out of the area.
The intention of OLF/OLA launching the latest attack has political motives, including from growing pro-genocide rhetoric from #Oromo hardliners that want to expand Oromia and ethnically cleanse all Amhara including from Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa. Ataye town, which is along the road connecting Addis Ababa with Dessie (located in South Wollo zone, Amhara region) is only 168 miles from the capital, and this attack on Ataye sends a strong message that OLF/OLA militias are nearly in control of Addis Ababa. Some political activists question the heavy artillery, sophisticated weaponry, and surveillance and directionality that the OLF/OLA militiamen are able to accomplish. One theory is that there is governmental, local as well as federal support for OLF’s claim of Addis Ababa and there is substantial evidence to support this theory. For instance, what makes the attack on Ataye strategic is that it occurred after the Amhara regional forces withdrew for deployment elsewhere (note there are active conflicts throughout the country). This begs the question of how the OLF/OLA knew that the Amhara forces were withdrawn from Ataye and nearby towns? This perhaps suggests that the local regional security apparatus was infiltrated and information was given to the OLF/OLA leaders. This would have included how the Amhara regional forces had withdrawn, only days before the city of Ataye found itself under siege. Some activists blame a group called “Wello-Hibret”, which is a civic/political group formed to actively antagonize ethnic Amhara which comprise the majority of the surrounding region. Some activist allege that Wello-Hibret might have been involved with the violence that ensued and may have involved leakage of the classified information that provided a gateway for the OLF/OLA to descend into Ataye.
Others declare that OLF/OLA is a terrorist organization that is fundamentally supported at the highest level of governance including the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, and the Oromia regional government president — Shimeles Abdisa, and other prominent members of the Oromia Prosperity Party including Taye Dendea Aredo, Lemma Megersa, former Oromia regional state president and FDRE Ministry of Defense.
We ask the international community and human rights organizations to closely consider what happened in Ataye as a major warning that OLF/OLA are not just massacring innocent Amhara civilians, but their goal is to take over Addis Ababa. We ask the international community to put pressure in the Ethiopian government, and particularly in prime minister Abiy Ahmed to restore the peace and security in Ataye and surrounding towns. We also ask the international community to take swift action in protecting innocent civilians from being massacred and to work with domestic civic organizations and political organizations such as the “National Movement of Amhara” (NAMA) and the Amhara regional state government officials to come up with a strong security apparatus to stop the ongoing Amhara massacre.
Reference:
BBC News Amharic. “የተፈጸመው ጥቃት አደገኛና ከባድ ወንጀል ነው” የአማራ ክልል.” bbc.com/Amharic/news, March 20th, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/amharic/news-56417952
Borkena News.“Ataye:Oromo Liberation Front opened war in Amhara region” Borkena.com, March 20,2021, https://borkena.com/2021/03/20/ataye-oromo-liberation-front-opened-war-in-amhara-region/
Wazemaradio. “በሰሜን ሽዋ “የኦነግ ሸኔ” ታጣቂዎች በከፈቱት ጥቃት ከ20 በላይ ሰዎች ተገደሉ” wazemaradio.com, March 20, 2021, http://wazemaradio.com/%e1%89%a0%e1%88%b0%e1%88%9c%e1%8a%95-%e1%88%bd%e1%8b%8b-%e1%8b%a8%e1%8a%a6%e1%8a%90%e1%8c%8d-%e1%88%b8%e1%8a%94-%e1%89%b3%e1%8c%a3%e1%89%82%e1%8b%8e%e1%89%bd-%e1%89%a0%e1%8a%a8%e1%8d%88/
Woldie, Engidu. “Residents say OLF soldiers kill several in Majete, Ataye and Kemise.” ethsat.com, April 8,2019, https://ethsat.com/2019/04/residents-say-olf-soldiers-kill-several-in-majete-ataye-and-kemise/
Woldie, Engidu. “27: Death toll in North Shewa attack” ethsat.com, April 10, 2019,
https://ethsat.com/2019/04/27-death-toll-in-north-shewa-attack/
