Breaking News – At least 54 killed in ‘heart-breaking’ school yard massacre in Ethiopia

AT LEAST 54 people including the elderly, women and children have been massacred in a schoolyard in western Ethiopia, survivors have claimed.

Amnesty International said the attack targeted an ethnic minority and was carried out by a rebel group who gathered the elderly, women and children to a meeting before opening fire.

The organisation added that federal soldiers had left the area hours before attackers moved in and gunned down ethnic Amharas. Survivors say they have 54 counted bodies in the schoolyard in the far western part of Oromia, and that it is the latest attack on ethnic minorities in the country.

Amhara region’s affiliated broadcaster, Amhara Mass Media Agency, quoted one survivor as saying the armed group had gathered 200 people for a meeting around 5pm and then started shooting at them. They claimed a school and 120 houses had also been burned.

In a statement, Amnesty said, ‘Militants gathered people who did not manage to flee, mainly women, children and the elderly, and killed them.’ Many hid in a forest nearby to get away from their attackers, who are said to have dragged people to the school.

One victim told the human rights group he found the bodies of his brother, sister-in-law and three children in the schoolyard with bullet wounds. Survivors of the attack in the Guliso District of West Wellega Zone told Amnesty that federal troops had withdrawn unexpectedly and around 60 rebels arrived hours later, identifying themselves as the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and announcing that they controlled the area, near the border with South Sudan.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who last year won a Nobel Peace Prize, denounced the killings, adding that security forces had been deployed to the area and ‘started taking measures’.

In a Facebook post, he wrote, ‘Ethiopia’s enemies are vowing either to rule the country or ruin it, and they are doing everything they can to achieve this. ‘One of their tactics is to arm civilians and carry out barbaric attacks based on identity.

‘This is heart-breaking.’

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