Sunday, 6 October 2024
Field Marshal Berhanu Jula also claims that it was not Shane that massacred civilians in Wollega, Oromia region of Ethiopia
borkena
Toronto – It has been four good years since 17 female Dembi Dollo University Students from Amhara region were reportedly abducted by OLF Shane – radical ethnic Oromo militant group operating in the region. It was reported at the time the students were abducted from the area.
Now a new claim is emerging, and from Ethiopia’s Defense Chief of Staff. In his latest interview with a pro-government journalist, Sisay Agena, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula said it was not Shane (“Oromo Liberation Army”) that kidnapped the students. “It was a group with a plan B that kidnapped them. ”
The entity he called “group with plan B” was unspecified. But it was clear from what he said that he was making a reference to a political force in the Amhara region of Ethiopia.
The Defense chief went further and made claims that the kidnapped female students were “taken to Bahir Dar.” However, he did not answer the question “where Bahir Dar?” The answer was “we have information and we will get to it.”
He was fitting in the story of the kidnapped girls to the new narrative that National Movement of Amhara (NaMA) recruited a man from Dembi Dollo with ethnic Amhara roots and made arrangements for him to infiltrate within the militant Oromo nationalist group – OLA . According to Berhanu Jula, this man was named “Jal Chala” but his real name is “Ashenafi Gonder.” He is talking about a man that is influential within the OLA militant group.
It appears that what the narrative that the Defense Chief unveiled is Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government position. He vowed “everything will be exposed.”
New Narrative on ethnic Amharas massacred in Wollega
The recurring massacre of ethnic Amharas in rural communities in the Wollega area of Oromia region has been making headlines on Ethiopian news outlets for several years now. Most, if not all, of the killings were linked to OLA. According to the Defense Chief, that too was the work of another group, the details of which he did not disclose, not the work of OLA. In a way, he is absolving the OLA.
Human Rights Organizations in the country and abroad have reported about the massacres that OLA has been undertaking in the Oromia region.
Meanwhile, the massacre of Ethiopian Orthodox Church followers and priests continues to be a target of the militant group in the Oromia region which is believed to be working with some within the government structure. Just last week, a priest was slain with his spouse and three children in the Mojo area of Oromia region, which is less than 100 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa.
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