Today, the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) issued a statement announcing the continuation of their campaign to “destroy the Shene armed forces under the region and to create a stable zone.” (Shene is a term frequently used by members of the Ethiopian government to refer to the Oromo Liberation Army).
OLLAA regrets this most recent announcement by the ENDF of the continuation of their military campaign against the OLA, which appears to be a rejection of the calls from the US government and from within Oromia to find a peaceful means to end the conflict in Oromia. We fear the continuation of this campaign will lead to further violation of civilians’ rights throughout the region and increasing instability throughout the Horn of Africa.
As such, OLLAA calls on all actors to issue strong statements condemning the ongoing military campaign inside Oromia and calling for the Ethiopian federal and Oromia regional government forces to immediately cease efforts to “eliminate” the OLA militarily and instead seek peaceful means to address the conflicts inside Oromia, as it has done with the TPLF in northern Ethiopia.
