Following the failure of peace talks earlier this month, Oromiya rebels in Ethiopia accused the government of launching a military offensive against them on Wednesday.
The government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) met in Zanzibar for a week of talks to try to end a decades-long conflict that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands in Ethiopia’s most populous region in recent years.
It was reported at the time that both parties had agreed to continue communicating.
The OLA’s high command issued a statement claiming that Ethiopian forces launched a “broad offensive” after the first round of talks ended on May 3.
The army accused farmers of being coerced into joining local militias and supplying food to its troops, “blatantly contradicting the understanding that de-escalation should be prioritized during the negotiating processes,” according to the statement.
Requests for comment were not immediately returned by the federal government, the army, or the Oromiya regional administration.
The Oromiya region, which surrounds Addis Ababa, is home to more than a third of Ethiopia’s 110 million people.
For decades, it has been plagued by protesters who claim the federal government has ignored and marginalized them.
The heinousness Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government, which signed a peace deal in November to end a two-year civil war in northern Tigray, faces a significant security challenge.
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) is a splinter group within the legal Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), a political party that emerged from exile following Abiy’s election as president in 2018.
