ONM-ABO 2 March, 2026
A grave and escalating humanitarian crisis is unfolding across Oromia, marked by the expansion of armed groups identified as Amhara militia elements. These forces, originally recruited, trained and armed by Colonel Abiy Ahmed to serve as proxies against the Oromo community, are now broadening their reach throughout the region, with attacks growing in both intensity and frequency.
In the Dawa Caffa district of the Wallo region, alarming reports confirm that armed entities, allegedly operating in concert with certain local administrative elements, are systematically occupying civilian residences, looting property, orchestrating arson attacks, forcibly displacing populations and destroying agricultural infrastructure.
A stark illustration of these tactics occurred last week in Dullacha village. Under cover of darkness, armed men targeted the home of Zahare Shuumu Indiris, a widowed mother of five who supports her children and blind mother through manual labour. They deliberately set her house ablaze, ensuring the total destruction of the family dwelling and all its contents.
Witnesses report that the gunmen opened fire indiscriminately on residents, plunging the community into chaos and triggering mass displacement. In a callous act designed to maximise destruction, they prevented efforts to extinguish the fires by shooting at those who courageously attempted to approach the burning homes.
Following the attack on Mrs Indiris and the forced displacement of numerous villagers, the assailants proceeded to her farmland and those of other community members. They systematically destroyed crops across several hectares, pillaging the remaining produce and transporting it away in trucks, effectively seizing the livelihoods of some of the community’s most vulnerable members.
This pattern of calculated destruction, of homes, agricultural resources and community cohesion, represents a severe humanitarian catastrophe, inflicting profound trauma and jeopardising the survival of affected populations across the region.
