Residents Under Siege: Oromo Militias Invade Amhara region
GPE Public Relations
Sunday March 20, 2021
For Immediate Release
#GPE_AtrocityReport: High alert citizens under attack in #Ataye /Efeson Woreda, #Amhara Region, #Ethiopia.
As we release this warning, Ataye residents are under attack by heavily armed OLF extremists in the area. We are asking all responsible parties, the Federal Government of Ethiopia, the Amhara Regional Force and the adjacent regional governments to immediately step in and protect ethnic Amharas that are being gunned down in their homes.
We have obtained pictures of civilians injured from the invasion that are now transported to Dessie Hospital in Dessie city (Source: Ethio251 media).
Sources from the area reported to us that the limited Amhara force stationed in the district was mobilized out of the district to defend civilians from TPLF forces that are destroying villages in the north east of the Amahra Region . See our update on TPLF’s attack on Wag Himra zone of Amahra Region below.
The OLF militant group that was reported to have been encircling the district and was in preparation of an attack throughout the past two weeks descended upon the town just after the Amahra forces left the district, some believe OLF is coordinating its attacks with TPLF’s operation. Civilians who were transmitting information during the attack disclosed that women and children are now leaving Ataye on foot to Menz ( another woreda in Amhara region west of Ataye). Heavy gun fighting can be heard while they report their status to us. The very disturbed resident said “Please pray for us, they are shooting at everything”, he took some time and continued “have you heard? Is there any force coming for us?”. The GPE volunteer tried to find out their condition and asked if there are any other civilians with him. He said “We heard people are leaving for Menz, and I am with my mother and sister, so we are also now going in the woods to escape on foot”. He again pleaded “ Pray for us” before he hung up. Heavy gun fighting could be heard in the background.
OLF has been continuously trying to push Amahras out of the district to annex it to Oromia region. Two years ago a heavily armed OLF militia attempted to takeover the district but was turned away after fierce fighting with the Amahra force and residents armed with really old rifles. It is reported that the OLF militia is armed with grenades, modern assault rifles, sniper guns, launchers and vehicles. In an obvious contrast, the Amhara forces, despite being part of the legal state security apparatus are denied ammunition from the central government and denied any backing from the Ethiopian National Defense Force stationed in the area.
It is now very apparent that the genocide against Amharas and their cleansing off of certain districts that are planned to be annexed by Oromia region in the south and TPLF in the North East and North are all coordinated operations which is a continuation of the 1991 pact between TPLF and OLF to eradicate Amharas and take over the area completely.
As we analyze the patterns of these attacks that are predominantly against Amharas all over Ethiopia, but also include Guraghes, Gamos, Konsos, Koores and Wolaitas, it seems the grand plan is to completely homogenize these ethnic based states (Regions) that were imposed on the nation in 1993 without any participation from the Amharas, the second largest ethnic group (according to the statistics from the government) in the country.
We are fearful that these coordinated attacks against Amharas all over the country will go unnoticed by the international community as there is an ongoing disinformation campaign that is taking place in parallel to demonize Amharas in the international arena by the same groups that set out to destroy them. Pictures and videos of Amhara victims have been repeatedly misused and misattributed as if the victims were from a different ethnic group barring the possibility of securing justice for the attacked Amharas, not only that, the atrocity that caused their death is reported as if it was committed by Amhara Forces. This is a trifecta of injustice, where the victims’ suffering is covered up, the evidence that shows their suffering is being misused for propaganda, and they are being blamed for causing the suffering in the first place. This complete targeting of Amharas coupled with the toxic hate that is directed at them by organized groups through social media generally blaming them for all the ills in Ethiopia is what we fear will create the conducive environment for a silent genocide of the Amhara people in Ethiopia. The deafening silence from the world even after seeing hundreds upon hundreds being massacred and buried in mass graves as we’ve seen in Metekel, Maikadra and Wellega in Ethiopia is a harrowing indication that our fear of not being able to stop yet another barbaric genocide might come true.
The international community needs to take time and study the patterns and the complex situation in Ethiopia before they become a willing partner in the horrific ethnic targeting that is ongoing against Amharas in Ethiopia.
