By ONM-ABO
September 6, 2026
Between late August and early September 2026, the Oromia regional state experienced a severe escalation in human rights abuses, as state-sponsored conscription drives, summary executions, and systemic extortion schemes targeted civilian populations. Across multiple zones, state security forces and ruling party cadres turned everyday community spaces, from public roads and farmlands to family homes, into environments of fear and economic exploitation.
Violent Forced Recruitment and Abductions
Regime forces and Prosperity Party administrators intensified violent forced recruitment campaigns aimed at bolstering troop numbers. On August 26, 2026, in Guna District (East Arsi Zone), government troops swept through Re’ee Arbaa village, seizing civilians off public roads. Among those abducted were primary breadwinners supporting large households, including Amaanoo Usmaan (a father of 9) and Huseen Hamdaa (a father of 7).
In Aqaaqi District (East Shaggar Zone) during late August 2026, local cadres organized mandatory public assemblies in Odaa Kattichaa and Dheeraa Iddooroo villages. Once residents were assembled, forces forcibly loaded attendees, including local citizens Disaasaa Fayyisaa, Fayyisaa Katamaa, and Kumsee Dhaabii, onto transport buses bound for military training facilities in Duukam.
On September 1, 2026, in Amuru District (Horro Guduru Wallagga Zone), security forces carried out home raids in Warra Beeraa village to apprehend male household heads for conscription. When men could not be located, troops detained their wives as leverage. Two days later, on September 3, 2026, in Lataa Sibuu District (West Wallagga Zone), soldiers intercepted two Isuzu trucks transporting students aged 10–22 who were traveling to register for school, forcibly redirecting them to military training centers.
Extrajudicial Executions and Roadside Killings
Summary executions of civilians under the pretext of counter-insurgency measures continued without accountability. On August 26, 2026, in Bookee District (West Hararghe Zone), cadres forcibly dragged Eliyaas Muusaa and Abdoo Aliyyii Kabiiraa from their homes, lined them up along the roadside, and shot them in the head under false allegations of supporting the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).
On August 29, 2026, in Gubbaa Qorichaa District (West Hararghe Zone), troops opened fire on villagers tending their fields in Saalloo kebele, subsequently detaining and executing two young farmers, Kadiir Muktaarii and Huseen Amiin, on the spot. On September 5, 2026, in Gimbii District (West Wallagga Zone), soldiers shot and killed Alamnash, a mother of five children, in Soodduu village, while critically injuring another youth, Faqqaduu Boronjaa.
Arbitrary Levies and Predatory Extortion
Throughout late August and early September, state officials systematically targeted civilian livelihoods through unlawful fines and forced contributions:
- Fantaallee District (East Shaggar Zone): Authorities extorted 80,000 ETB from a local pastoralist, Obbo Rarree Odaa, under the claim that his cattle had trespassed into a protected wildlife park.
- Nadhii Noonnoo District (Illu Abbaa Boora Zone): Security personnel initiated forced collection drives, demanding mandatory payments of 400 ETB per household head and 200 ETB per youth to fund municipal police infrastructure.
The events of late August and early September reveal a disturbing pattern where the instruments of state security are routinely deployed against the very populations they are meant to protect. By combining forced conscription, roadside executions, and arbitrary economic levies, state actors have imposed an oppressive cycle of physical insecurity and financial drain on vulnerable households. Without independent oversight, accountability for extrajudicial killings, and an immediate end to predatory recruitment practices, the civilian population across rural Oromia remains trapped in a worsening humanitarian crisis.
