Worsening violence in western Ethiopia forcing civilians to flee

Civilians in western Ethiopia say they plan to relocate after spate of attacks targeting people of ethnic Amhara origin.

Tibebu Girma cannot risk it any longer. A farmer in the Qellem Wollega zone of Ethiopia’s Oromia region, the 30-year-old makes a living by cultivating maize and selling it in the markets of nearby villages. But a recent spate of deadly attacks targeting civilians of ethnic Amhara origin has convinced him it is time to pack up and leave with his wife and their infant son for somewhere safer. “They don’t even spare the women and children,” Tibebu told Al Jazeera over the phone. “We aren’t safe here.” At least 12 people, including a seven-year-old child, were hacked to death in two particularly brutal attacks on February 25 in the villages of Boka and Nechlu, in the eastern part of Oromia, multiple sources told Al Jazeera. Among the slain civilians were two of Tibebu’s uncles, Teshome Beyene and Tadesse Muluneh, who were farmers in the area.