At Least 60 Orthodox Christians Killed in Ethiopia’s Oromia Region, Church Says

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region this month, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said.

In a statement, the Holy Synod of the Church said 14 worshippers were executed on Oct. 20 in the Merti district, and 46 others were killed on Oct. 24 in the Sherka district.

The Synod said all of the victims were members of the Orthodox community.

More than 20 houses were burned during the attacks and about 20 people were wounded, according to the Church.

The U.S.-based conflict monitors Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, ACLED, said the incidents were religiously motivated attacks and that an Orthodox church was looted and desecrated.

Authorities have not identified the perpetrators. The Church did not name a group responsible for the killings.

Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest and most populous region with an estimated 40 million people, has been the center of a long-running insurgency involving the Oromo Liberation Army and has seen recurring inter-communal tensions between Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox communities.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. No independent verification linking any specific armed group to the latest attacks has been made public.

ACLED said the violence is part of a broader increase in targeted attacks against Orthodox Christians in Oromia since February 2023.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it was monitoring the situation and reviewing details.

Ethiopia’s federal government did not immediately comment on the reported killings.

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