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Hundreds of people were killed in Ethiopia’s Oromia region last week in what was seen as the latest flash of ethnic violence.
The Trends Journal has long documented the ongoing conflict in Tigray. (See “ETHIOPIA UPDATE: TIGRAY FORCES RETAKE CAPITAL CITY,” “ETHIOPIA’S WAR: DEATHS OF AT LEAST 2000 TIGRAY CHILDREN NOT ‘NEWS’…ONLY UKRAINE VICTIMS COUNT,” and “ETHIOPIA CIVIL WAR= MASS MURDER, MASS STARVATION.”)
The recent massacre was blamed on the Oromo Liberation Army. The New York Times pointed out that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is a member of the Oromo ethic group and was born there, which it called a “thorny challenge” for the leader.
Abiy is a former Nobel Peace Prize winner who went to war in Tigray after it held elections in September 2020 despite a countrywide voting ban allegedly due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ethnic militias have also formed across the Tigray region and have taken part in campaigns of rape, looting, and killings.
Some of the victims in Oromia were buried, so it is hard to put a precise number on deaths. The Amhara Association of America told the Times that about 300 people were killed. Abiy called the killings a “massacre,” and took to Twitter to vow that his government will “eliminate” the OLA fighters.
The BBC, citing witnesses, reported that the killings started on Monday, at dawn, in Hawa Gelan, and spanned for three hours. Witnesses said the killings were indiscriminate, and included men, women, and children. Homes were set ablaze.
“We heard about 25 youths were taken to the woods and killed. We still haven’t found their bodies,” one man told the outlet.
Another told VOA News that residents are still living in fear.
“In the afternoon, yesterday when we tried to bury our loved ones, there were lots of snipers shooting, we couldn’t bury our family members,” he said. “We are not alive, we are waiting to die.”
The reports of the killings comes three weeks after hundreds of people in the Amhara community were killed in the region, according to The Associated Press. The same rebel group was blamed. The group called the allegations false and blamed government forces and other local militias.
The country has been torn apart due to ethnic clashes and hunger remains a constant threat. Ethiopia is among several countries that have sections of its population living with phase-5 catastrophic levels of hunger, according to the United Nations. The COVID-19 lockdowns and sanctions tied to the Ukraine War have exacerbated the problem.
The recent UN’s Development Program’s report found that 51.6 million more people fell into poverty since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. World poverty is considered a daily income of $1.90 or less. The report found that an additional 20 million fell to the poverty line at $3.20 a day.
TRENDPOST: Is a Ukrainian life more valuable than an Ethiopian life?
The Western media has been reporting on the Ukrainian War with nearly wall-to-wall coverage, and every allegation of Russian atrocities has prompted the U.S. government to demand answers. The Bucha killings, for example, resulted in satellite images being released, CCTV footage, and a visit by world leaders to fully comprehend the tragedy.
Don’t hold your breath for them to visit Ethiopia any time soon. Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Ethiopia …who cares?
George Packer’s 2019 book, “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century,” pointed to a reported 2010 conversation then-Vice President Joe Biden had with Holbrooke, who was a top diplomat at the time. They spoke about the almost-certain humanitarian costs that would unfold if the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan.
“Fuck that. We don’t have to worry about that,” Biden reportedly told Holbrooke. “We did it in Vietnam. Nixon and Kissinger got away with it.”
The interaction is notable because Biden has tried to appear magnanimous when it comes to Ukraine.