A Weekend of Killings in East Arsi is the Latest in Years of Attacks on Rural Orthodox Christian Communities in Oromia, and the Competing Accounts of Who Carried Them Out Show How Violence in Ethiopia’s Largest Region Goes Unpunished.
“We were completely unprepared and had no prior knowledge. They surrounded us from all four directions.” The words belong to a resident of Shirka district in Ethiopia’s Oromia region whose 75-year-old father was among those killed. He was describing an ambush that began on the evening of Saturday, 24 October 2026, and went on into Sunday morning.
Residents say armed men went from house to house in the Chole and Birbo kebeles of Shirka Woreda in Arsi Zone, shooting and stabbing civilians for nearly six hours. Neighborhood watch groups organized for night patrols were overwhelmed by attackers armed with AK-47 rifles and other weapons. Residents also described looting, including the looting of a church in Digelu town, and the use of heavy weapons.
How many died is not settled. Residents who attended a mass funeral said the toll had reached at least 48, with more than 31 wounded, some critically, and burials still underway. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, through its Holy Synod, put the number killed in a series of attacks on three areas of Shirka at more than 60, and said 20 houses were burnt to the ground. Eyewitnesses said five of the dead were children; residents quoted in another account said at least six were children under 15. This brief gives each figure rather than choosing between them.
A Mass Grave and People in Hiding
The first 35 to 37 victims were buried together in a mass grave on Sunday. Only a small number of people, “overcoming their fear,” came out for the burial, while many others remained hidden in their homes. The wounded were taken to hospitals in Gobesa and Shirka, and some were referred as far as Chanco.
Residents of the nearby town of Sire said they had prepared a letter on the Friday before the attack, asking the town administration for protection, but that their appeal was “not received in time.” The attackers, residents said, withdrew only after the federal army deployed to the area on Sunday evening. A church official described the killings as a “massacre” and said security forces reached the scene but could not stop the assault.
Who Is Being Blamed
Responsibility is disputed, and no account has been independently verified. A local official blamed a newly formed rebel coalition, the Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The OLA has not commented but has denied carrying out earlier attacks of this kind. Hailu Adugna, head of the regional Communication Bureau, attributed the violence to a group he called “Tsimdo,” which he said was “attempting to divert the government’s attention and expand internal conflict” amid mounting losses. He provided no details on the number of victims or the security response.
Residents offered a further, more troubling claim: that local police supported the militias involved. One said that in the two days before the attack, rumors had spread in Gobesa, Sire and Kula that “Tsimdo members” were using churches to organize. None of these claims, including those about the rumors, the attackers’ affiliations or the conduct of local security forces, has been independently verified. The Holy Synod’s statement did not identify who was responsible.
A Pattern, Not an Exception
The Orthodox Church said attacks on Christians had been increasing and that “such actions undermine the country’s values of mutual respect and peaceful coexistence.” It said it had repeatedly raised concerns with authorities at all levels of government, but “so far there has been no solution.”
The record supports its frustration. Between 30 May and 1 June 2026, attacks around Teleta Gebriel in Aseko Woreda killed civilians, drove hundreds into the forests and ended with the historic Teleta Saint Gabriel Church burnt. On 15 June, Abayneh Tebeqe, a priest at Gado Saint Mary Church in Shirka, was kidnapped from his farm and killed. In November and December 2023, attacks in Shirka and surrounding areas killed more than three dozen people.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council, a non-governmental organization, reported in July 2026 on years of targeted killings in the area, with Orthodox Christian communities disproportionately affected. Its figures are summarized in current reporting in two ways: 458 people killed in the area over four years, or at least 432 civilians and four militia members killed across East Arsi since 2021/2022. Either way, the weekend’s attack ranks among the deadliest of that period. Earlier reports have also documented attacks on Muslims in the area, and residents have described the violence as both ethnic and religious.
The Cost of Unnamed Perpetrators
The government has previously blamed the OLA, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed describing violence against civilians and religious institutions as part of a plan to destabilize the country. The OLA, which says it is fighting for greater rights for the Oromo people, rejects those allegations. At other times, officials have blamed a group they call “OLF/Shene”. Each new name offered by authorities, without arrests, trials or published findings, adds to a sense that the killings are being explained away rather than investigated.
About two-thirds of Ethiopians are Christians, mostly Orthodox, and one-third are Muslims. In a country where faith and ethnicity often overlap, unresolved killings framed in religious terms pose a risk well beyond Arsi.
Protection as a Test of the State
A state’s first claim to authority is its ability to protect the people living within its borders. In Shirka, villagers requested protection in writing and organized their own night watches; the army arrived only after the killing stopped. The regional government has said it will act against those responsible.
Ethiopia’s ability to govern its own territory will be judged on whether that promise produces an independent investigation, credible names and prosecutions, and a security presence that rural communities trust, Christian and Muslim alike. Without it, the next funeral in East Arsi is only a matter of time.
