At least 60 people were killed in two attacks on Christians in Ethiopia’s Oromia region in the past week, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said in a statement issued on Monday.
The church’s Holy Synod said 14 believers were killed in Merti woreda on October 20 and 46 in Shirka woreda on October 24. More than 20 homes were burned and more than 20 people were hospitalised with severe injuries, the statement said, according to Reuters.
Casualty figures from the remote area varied in early reports; the figures in this story are those in the church’s Monday statement, the latest account reported.
A dawn ambush survivors described
A church official described the attacks on three areas in the Shirka district as a “massacre”, saying security forces arrived at the scene but were unable to stop the assault, the BBC reported.
One resident, whose 75-year-old father was killed, described the attack as an ambush. “We were completely unprepared and had no prior knowledge. They surrounded us from all four directions,” he told BBC Amharic.
Eyewitnesses told the BBC that five of those killed were children. Many residents have now fled the area, and the Holy Synod said 20 houses were burnt to the ground.
Who is blamed — and what is not established
A local official blamed the attacks on a newly formed rebel coalition, the Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The OLA has not commented on these attacks but has denied carrying out previous such attacks, the BBC reported.
The Oromiya regional government said the rebel alliance launched the attacks to try to spark religious conflict, without providing evidence, Reuters reported. A source linked to the rebel alliance said the regional government had carried out the killings, citing conversations with two local residents, Reuters reported. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, and neither side’s claim has been independently verified.
A pattern the church says is worsening
Condemning the violence, the Orthodox Church said attacks against Christians had been increasing recently, and that “such actions undermine the country’s values of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence”.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the church said it had repeatedly raised concerns about insecurity with authorities at different levels of government, but that “so far there has been no solution”. The regional government said it would take action against those responsible.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council, a non-governmental organisation, said in a report released in July 2026 that 458 people had been killed in attacks in that area over the previous four years. The BBC reported that this is one of the most deadly attacks in that period.
The OLA is one of seven armed groups that announced last month that they had formed an alliance aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, Reuters reported.
Sources: Reuters; BBC (BBC Amharic reporting); Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church statement.
