{"id":838837,"date":"2026-11-10T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838837"},"modified":"2026-11-09T23:46:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:46:54","slug":"two-dawn-attacks-on-the-same-day-kill-dozens-in-benishangul-and-arsi-as-officials-and-the-olf-trade-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838837","title":{"rendered":"Two dawn attacks on the same day kill dozens in Benishangul and Arsi, as officials and the OLF trade blame"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Map<\/figure>\n

Map showing Benishangul-Gumuz Region in Ethiopia, 2011. Map: TUBS \/ Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 [file photo]<\/em><\/p>\n

Attacks at dawn on Thursday, November 5, killed 52 people in Benishangul Gumuz and 38 in Arsi, officials and residents say. Officials blame the OLA. The OLF says security forces killed Oromo civilians in the area.<\/p>\n

In Daleti kebele, in Buldigilu woreda of Asosa zone, gunmen attacked at about 5 AM, Benishangul Gumuz police commissioner Idris Mohammed told BBC Amharic. He said 52 people were killed: 21 civilians, 18 members of the regional riot police and 13 local militia members. He blamed “Shene,” the name the government uses for the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Daleti borders Oromia region.<\/p>\n

Giragn Gudeta, who chairs the regional council’s committee on peace, justice and democracy, confirmed to DW Amharic that a “horrific attack” took place and also blamed the OLA. One resident told DW that about 17 people had been buried, and that three more bodies, including a truck driver, were found in the forest the next day.<\/p>\n

Residents in Daleti told Addis Standard on Nov. 9 that more than 65 people were killed in attacks on Nov. 5 and 6, including at least 27 civilians and about 45 members of regional security forces. Addis Standard said it could not verify local reports of more than 100 dead. The regional police commissioner, Idris Mohammed, told BBC Amharic that 52 people were killed and blamed OLF-Shene, the government’s name for the Oromo Liberation Army. No toll has been independently confirmed.<\/p>\n

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a registered political party, gave a different account. In a statement shared by its spokesman Lemi Gemechu, it said regional police killed more than 43 Oromo civilians, according to BBC Amharic. BBC said the OLF accused the police of killing them on the charge of supporting the OLA. DW reported the OLF\u2019s figure as more than 40 and said the party named nine of the dead and said more than 100 were missing. BBC Amharic said it could not tell whether the police account and the OLF account describe the same events.<\/p>\n

At almost the same hour, gunmen attacked Endeto, a small town in Robe woreda of Arsi, in Oromia. Residents told BBC Amharic that 38 people were killed. They said 10 were civilians and the rest were town militia and police. One witness said he counted 34 bodies at a church being prepared for a mass burial. “My brother is a farmer. He is young, about to turn 27. He did nothing wrong,” another relative said. “We were talking on the phone, and there was heavy gunfire. Then the phone went dead.”<\/p>\n

Hailu Adugna, head of Oromia’s communication bureau, told BBC Afaan Oromoo that “Shene” carried out the Endeto attack. The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party said it had confirmed 34 deaths from residents. Many posts on X describe the victims at Endeto as Orthodox Christians. Mereja Media could not confirm the religion of all the victims.<\/p>\n

The OLA has not responded publicly to the accusations about either attack. Mereja Media treats the statements of regional governments, the OLF and armed groups as claims, because independent access to both areas is very limited.<\/p>\n

The attacks come a week after the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said 60 of its faithful were killed in two attacks in Arsi. Mereja Media reported that on October 27<\/a>, and on October 28 we reported that at least 85 people were killed in a week of attacks in Oromia and southern Ethiopia<\/a>. On October 31, relatives of victims of the Shirka killings told DW Amharic they were arrested after the burials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n