[file photo] Central Ethiopia regional president Dr. Yetmgeta Asrat's administration at a public meeting with residents, in a photo posted October 24, 2026. Photo: South Radio and Television via X
At least 85 people were killed in attacks in Oromia and southern Ethiopia last week, according to a tally BBC Amharic compiled from residents and other sources.
The tally covers the week that included the massacre in Shirka district of the former Arsi zone and the clashes in Moyale. It also lists attacks that drew little attention outside the areas where they happened.
One was an attack on the Fincha sugar factory in Horo Guduru Wollega zone in the early hours of Monday, October 19. The factory's general manager, Mengistu Hailemariam, confirmed to the BBC that the plant "was damaged by armed forces," but would not give details. A worker, who asked not to be named, told the BBC that about eight people were killed, including members of the local militia, and that many federal police officers were also killed when the gunmen first opened fire at a checkpoint. He said five factory vehicles, a transformer and machines were burned, and that the attack eased only around 10:30 in the morning "because of a drone."
Residents gave The Abay Times a lower figure the day after the attack, saying four militia members and one unarmed resident were killed and two factory workers were abducted. They said the attackers looted a Commercial Bank of Ethiopia branch and burned about 40 motorcycles and four vehicles.
In the South Ethiopia Region, five farmers were killed in their fields in Burji zone on Thursday, October 22, a resident told the BBC. The zone's communication office confirmed the killings in Nedele kebele of Soyama Zuria district, and said the attackers came from the direction of West Guji in Oromia. In the neighboring Koore zone, three people, including a boy herding cattle, were killed on Saturday, October 24, residents said. "He could not run, and he just stood there," one resident said of the boy. "They fired three bullets at him." The Koore zone administration said the attackers were "anti-peace forces" operating near the border with Guji.
The Shirka attack on October 24 killed 46 people, residents told the BBC. The Oromia regional Government has blamed it on members of what it calls "Tsimdo" and on the armed group it calls Shene, its name for the Oromo Liberation Army.
The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has said two attacks in Arsi killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, the Associated Press reported, and called on the authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice.
The new reports from Gurage zone, in the Central Ethiopia Region, describe a different kind of violence. Two residents of Abeshge district told DW Amharic that armed men kidnapped 20 passengers from a bus on the road from Wolisso to Silk Amba on Thursday, October 22, and killed three farmers near Walga the next day. "All three were farmers. They left home to harvest maize from their fields," one witness said. "When the shooting started, they tried to run, and they were caught and killed on the spot." Another resident said most of the bus passengers were traders traveling for work, and that the kidnappers had called their families to demand money.
Residents said killings and kidnappings for ransom have gone on in Abeshge for about two years, despite a joint command post that has run security in the district since 2017 in the Ethiopian calendar. At a public meeting in Wolkite last week, residents raised the issue with regional leaders. The regional president, Dr. Yetmgeta Asrat, who took office last month, promised to restore peace and said the Government would use traditional peace making systems, including the Gurage council known as Joka, DW Amharic reported.