At least 14 civilians, including women and children, were killed in a brutal armed attack on Thursday evening in the Nono district of West Shoa Zone, located in Ethiopia’s Oromia region.
According to a report by DW Amharic, the gunmen carried out what appeared to be an indiscriminate assault on a residential area in the outskirts of the district. Victims were targeted in their homes—some while watching television, others while eating dinner. There was no reported confrontation or provocation leading up to the massacre.
Tragically, six of the victims were from the same family. Berhanu Shemsedin, a local resident, lost his wife and all five of his children in the attack. Speaking in a trembling and grief-stricken voice, Berhanu told DW Amharic:
“It happened around 1:30 at night [7:30 p.m. local time]. I lost my entire family—my wife, my sons, my daughters. The youngest was just two years old. My other children were aged 5, 11, 12, and 14. The attackers didn’t even know me; we were told they’re extremist fighters operating from the south of our area.”
Berhanu was not at home when the killings occurred. He had been visiting a neighbor nearby and heard the gunfire. Although he tried to rush home, his host insisted it was too dangerous to leave. When he finally returned, he found that his entire family had been killed.
Local residents described scenes of horror. One anonymous witness said:
“We were in town and heard what sounded like heavy gunfire. It continued until around 2:30 a.m. When we got to the neighborhood, there were bodies everywhere.”
Witnesses estimate the number of armed attackers to be between 35 and 40. It’s unclear who exactly carried out the killings, but residents and local reports suspect that the attack was perpetrated by members of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA)—an armed group that operates throughout Oromia and has been linked to previous violence in West Shoa.
Disturbingly, residents claim that no security forces were present in the area during the attack, despite repeated patterns of violence in the region. Efforts by local media to obtain a response from West Shoa Zone officials have so far been unsuccessful.
West Shoa has become one of Ethiopia’s most volatile areas in recent years, plagued by ongoing violence, ethnic tensions, and repeated massacres. The conflict has displaced thousands and continues to fuel humanitarian concerns in the region.
