Oromo: Deadliest Mass Killing During Irrecha Festival
Photo courtesy of Reuters
On 2 October 2016, at least 300 Oromo protesters fell victim to an Ethiopian Government-sponsored killing squad. Gathered to celebrate their traditional Irrecha Festival near the city of Bishoftu, estimated 4.000,000 Oromos were surprised by indiscriminate fire opened by the “Agazi Force”. Human Rights League of the Horn of Africa (HRLHA) strongly urges for an independent investigation.
Below is a press release by HRLHA
The HRLHA deeply condemn the mass killing by the Ethiopian Government-sponsored killing squad “Agazi Force” near Bishoftu, Oromia, where over 4,000,000 Oromos were gathered to celebrate the Irrecha annual festival – the Oromo thanksgiving day – on October 2, 2016.
The attack by the Agazi killing squad, which was supported by helicopter from the air, has left at least 300 civilians dead on the spot and thousands of wounded have been taken to hospitals in Bishoftu and Addis Ababa, 40 km away from the place of the mass killing. According local HRLHA informants, the dead bodies laid scattered all over the ground around the Hora Arsadi – the place where the Irrecha Festival took place.
The October 2, 2016 mass killing would be one of the highest tolls for a single day in Oromia since the Oromo protest began in November 2015.
The HRLHA calls on world governments and donor organizations to condemn the barbaric acts of the government-sponsored Agazi Force killing squad against Oromo civilians and to put pressure on the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) Coalition Government to allow a neutral body to swiftly investigate these horrific events conducted by the Ethiopian Government.
The HRLHA will continue updating the fast growing death toll.
Article published by BBC
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