Mager Media
Tuesday, July 5, 2022 (Sene 28, 2014 EC)
The women & children abducted by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) army from Qellem Wollega Zone (Oromia Region, Ethiopia) have been discovered, all executed.
In the Mender 20 & 16 areas of Lemlem Kebele [Hawa Gelan Woreda (district), Qellem Wollega Zone, Oromia Region] on July 4, 2022 (Sene 27, 2014 EC), the OLF army abducted women & children, after perpetrating the massacre, were found dead in Mender 21 according to Mager’s sources. Eyewitnesses who survived the massacre told Mager that more than 50 women & children who were abducted were found dead in Mender 21.
in Qellem Wollega Zone another ethnic-based massacre was conducted against Amhara residents to which residents complained the government was trying to cover it up.
On July 4, before the OLF army committed the ethnic-based massacre of Amharas, government forces tried to cover up what happened, according to Mager Media’s sources.
Amhara survivors of the massacre expressed to Mager that the OLF army split their forces in two & attacked areas called Mander 20 & 16.
Hours prior government militias stationed in the area began firing into the sky pretending to fight off the OLF militants, after which the OLF militants entered the area & massacred residents using this cover.
Although the number killed is unknown, residents buried 80 people while body collection is ongoing & not complete according to eyewitnesses.
The zonal & woreda administrators did not permit vehicles to enter to pickup bodies & Amharas in neighboring kebeles gathered & completed the work of gathering bodies.
The OLF army which invaded killed residents with machetes & sharpened knives, burned down homes & gathered many people in a single spot before killing them in a mass shooting execution, according to survivors.
Survivors of the massacre said that
Amharas in the area have lost hope in the Oromo Special Forces & are seeking refuge in the nearby Mechara town.
Local Oromo residents collaborated with OLF soldiers & government forces by providing intel, participating in the killing & cutting off various services.
The local Qerro structure collaborated with the OLF army to kill victims & coordinating with Oromiffa-speaking drivers (public transportation service providers) to perpetrate killings using phrases such as, “We have this number of sheep, wait for us”, where the term “sheep” is code for Amhara travelers.
