Over 60 Christians massacred in Ethiopia as gunmen roam village killing children, burning homes

More than 60 Christians were killed in attacks targeting Christian communities in Ethiopia’s Oromia region. Five of the victims were children.

According to a report by the BBC, a local official blamed the attacks on the newly formed rebel coalition, the Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said in a statement that 20 houses were burned to the ground during the attacks.

"We were completely unprepared and had no prior knowledge. They surrounded us from all four directions,” one resident, whose father was killed, told BBC Amharic.

The attacks were described by a church official as a “massacre,” with security forces unable to stop them from happening. The killings are the latest in a series of attacks against Christians in the country. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has repeatedly raised concerns about insecurity with government authorities, but the situation has not been resolved.

Last July, the Ethiopian Human Rights Council released a report saying that 458 people have been killed in attacks in the area over the last four years. The latest violence is among the deadliest incidents reported in the area, where armed groups have repeatedly targeted members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The violence has been described as both religiously and ethnically motivated. Roughly two-thirds of Ethiopia’s population is Christian, most of whom belong to the Orthodox tradition. About one-third of the country is Muslim. Christianity has been in Ethiopia for over a millennia.

Sarah Kimani, Amnesty International’s media manager, told the Associated Press in January that the organization has documented executions, torture, abductions, and rape carried out by both the OLA and government forces. She has warned that internet blackouts and restrictions on independent media have concealed the extent of the violence, saying what has been documented now is “just the tip of the iceberg.”