By Elizabeth Gresosky
Last week, at least sixty people were killed in attacks that primarily targeted Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, but there are conflicting reports attributing blame for the massacre.
Vatican News reports that the attacks were carried out by a rebel coalition known as Tsimido (Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival) which opposes the current government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Other outlets, however, report that the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) specifically were behind the attacks, per a local government source. The OLA is part of the broader Tsimido coalition, which is not defined by a single religion or ethnic group. Their common goal is the removal of Prime Minister Ahmed.
Reuters is reporting that representatives of the Eastern Orthodox Church say the victims were predominantly, if not all, Christians. Apparently, the attackers went door-to-door massacring victims of all ages.
Ethiopia: At least 47 Ethiopian Christians were killed, and another 18 hospitalized, in coordinated attacks targeting them in the Oromia region. Surviving witnesses claimed regional authorities collaborated with Islamist militias to carry out the massacre. Church leaders have repeatedly warned local authorities about armed groups entering the area, but received no serious response. This is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a pattern of targeted attacks against Ethiopian Christians, who militants conflate with Amhara ethnicity. This fusion of religious and ethnic violence against innocent Christians and their churches must not be tolerated. We condemn these evil acts and call for the protection of Ethiopia’s Christians.
— Christian Emergency Alliance (@ChristianEmerg1) October 25, 2026
But the church representatives did not say who was behind the attacks, and Reuters echoes the report that the regional government in Oromia and rebel forces are trading blame for the attacks.
Some within the government say that rebel forces initiated the attack to draw the region into religious and ethnic conflict to destabilize Prime Minister Ahmed’s government, while a source from the rebel alliance is apparently blaming the government for the massacre in a false flag operation, possibly to drum up opposition to the growing rebel coalition.
