Attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region kill at least 60 Christians in a week
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church says at least 60 people, all Christians, have been killed in attacks in Oromia over the past week.
At least 60 people have been killed in attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region over the past week, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said. All of the victims were Christians, according to the church, which has raised alarm over the violence in the country's largest regional state.
The church's report, carried by Reuters, describes a series of attacks in Oromia over a seven-day period. The source material available for this report does not identify the attackers, the exact locations of each incident, or the timing of individual killings, and those details have not been independently confirmed.
Oromia, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, has been affected for several years by armed violence involving insurgent groups, ethnic tensions and clashes between security forces and armed opposition. Religious communities in the region, including Orthodox Christians, have at times been caught up in that wider unrest. The church's statement frames the latest killings as targeting Christians specifically, a claim that places the violence within a religious context.
The report underlines the human cost of the continuing insecurity in Oromia. Further information from the church, the Ethiopian government or independent observers is needed to establish the number of incidents, the identities of the perpetrators and the response of authorities.
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