Serious human rights violations including mass killings, violence, and mass displacement of civilians are occurring in various areas of the Oromia region, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) announced Thursday.

The report by the state-affiliated but independent human rights watchdog found that hundreds of civilians were brutally killed and an unknown number of people seriously injured in attacks by various armed groups in the region compiled over a period of five months. The report released on December 8, 2022, upheld that various insurgent groups have carried out widescale destruction of villages, mass and extrajudicial killings, forced displacement of civilians from August 2022 to December 2022, including the recent attack that claimed the lives of hundreds of people.

EHRC said that apart from civilians, members of the security forces and government authorities have been killed, and countless civilian and state properties have been looted or destroyed.

In addition, a large number of infrastructures and vitally needed services were severely damaged or destroyed and residents were deprived of these services, EHRC said. It said hundreds of thousands of residents displaced by the attacks and conflicts have been forced to live in challenging and deplorable conditions without access to humanitarian assistance.

The EHRC said its findings were based on research conducted in the areas where the attacks were taking place, interviewing victims, locals, displaced residents, and administration officials.

According to the report, the areas that are experiencing violence and conflict are Horo Guduru, East, West and Kelem Wollega Zone, North Shewa Zone, Ilu Ababora Zone, Buno Bedele Zone, East Shewa, West Shewa, South West Shewa, and Arsi Zone.

In addition, EHCR said it is monitoring the conflicts and attacks that are taking place in two Guji zones, especially in Kiremu, Gida Ayana, Alge, Hurumu, Amuru, Horo Buluq, Jardega Jarte, Bosset, Gindeberet, Chobi, Dera, Kuyu, Merti Jeju and neighboring districts of Arsi Zone.

The report detailed how the volume of attacks and violent incidents are substantially increasing from time to time, the scale of human rights violations, and the level of need rising proportionately.

According to EHRC, armed groups have taken control of entire kebeles or even districts in some areas, resorting to terror and committing numerous human rights violations.

The main participant in the conflict in the four Wollega zones of Western Oromia are the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), or ‘Shene’, and the Amhara militants, the EHRC said.

In the past few days, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, especially in the eastern Welega and Horo Guduru Welega zones, when many people lost their lives due to ethnically-targeted attacks.