As the army fights militants in another region, Amhara, locals and opposition groups in Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, accuse government troops of killing several civilians.
In West Shoa, relatives of the dead told reporters that at least 10 people, including four family members, had been slain by government forces.
Ararsa Yadesa, a local in Oromia, claimed that a single occurrence resulted in the deaths of four members of his family and two farm workers in his village.
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed organisation, is active there in large numbers. Ararsa asserted that there had not been any combat between OLA and government soldiers previous to the assault.
In a another incident, a university student said that after being seized from their hamlet by security personnel along with three other young people, only he was able to survive when the security forces opened fire on them.
The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), two opposition organizations, have accused the government of wrongful deaths, mass arrests, and violations of human rights in West Shoa. The organisations estimated 11 fatalities.
The administration is currently seeing widespread opposition from armed militias in the second-largest Amhara region of the nation.
After a week of heavy urban fighting, relative normalcy is still present in the largest cities in Amhara, but militias continue to claim authority over the smaller settlements.
