Civilians face ‘devastating' impact of Ethiopia's Oromia conflict: ICRC
Africa's second most populous country, home to some 130 million inhabitants, is being torn apart by several armed conflicts.
Oromia, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa, has seen clashes since 2018 between federal forces and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), with peace talks failing to yield progress.
Authorities have classified the OLA as a 'terrorist organization,' but it claims to be fighting for the rights of the region's approximately 40 million inhabitants.
'The ongoing conflict in the Oromia region is having a devastating effect on many communities, particularly those in remote areas,' the ICRC in Ethiopia said in a statement.
'Oromia doesn't make the headlines, yet civilians continue to be deeply affected by violence, with many people killed or injured and limited help coming from outside the region,' it warned.
'Many communities live on either side of a front line, or in places where there are ever-changing front lines, meaning that frequent skirmishes make movements particularly difficult and dangerous,' it added, saying that it prevented access to life-saving health care.
International monitors in 2018 estimated the OLA's strength at a few thousand men but believe numbers have significantly increased in recent years.
Despite this, they believe it remains insufficiently armed and organized to pose a real threat to the Ethiopian government.
In November, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced it was investigating the deaths of 48 people, including a district official, in an attack attributed to the OLA.
While Ethiopia signed a peace deal to end a deadly war between federal and regional forces in northern Tigray in 2022, conflicts continue to roil the sprawling nation.
In the Amhara region, the second most populous, federal authorities have been grappling with the Fano People's Militia insurgency for over a year.
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