Orthodox Christians targeted in massacre at Ethiopian market

What started off as an ordinary day of trading, bartering and shopping, ended in tragedy with the killing of more than twenty people.

On Thursday 26 February, armed attackers stormed a market in the east Arsi Zone of the Oromia Region, killing 20 Orthodox Christians and one Muslim guard.

Tensions have reportedly been building for some time in the once predominantly Orthodox Christian area. Significant changes such as authorities encouraging Muslim settlement and offering Muslims government jobs over Orthodox believers have impacted the local population. 

This attack comes shortly on the back of another incident in the Eastern Arsi Diocese of Shirka Woreda, Jawi Kebele where 21 Orthodox Christians have been killed. This included one priest, two women and 18 males all from the Orthodox Christian faith. However, according to a local news agency on their Telegram channel “the whereabouts of eight people are not yet known, eight have been hospitalised and two were kidnapped.”

The chaos escalated when the assailants set fire to homes and crops, causing devastation in the community. They entered the church chanting “Allahu Akbar” (meaning God is most great) inside the Abo church and panic spread throughout the village. Many residents fled to nearby towns in search of safety. 

The killings must end

As the number of civilians being murdered has continued in recent weeks, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has called on the federal government and the Oromia Regional State to take immediate, tangible, and sustainable protective measures.

The brutal killings, injuries, property destruction, and displacement being experienced in Arsi Zone, has led to three major religious institutions in Ethiopia issuing separate statements of condemnation. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia, and the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council each condemned the attack, warning against attempts to exploit the incident to incite inter-religious or inter-ethnic violence.

In a statement dated 01 March 2026, the Permanent Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said it had received reports from its diocese confirming that 21 civilians were killed in the attack in East Arsi. The Synod said survivors were abducted and their whereabouts remain unknown, while homes and properties belonging to more than 10 households were set on fire.

All of the victims were Orthodox Christian civilians. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) has also issued a statement addressing the killings, accusing what it described as “mercenaries” of moving through Arsi Zone and deliberately targeting Orthodox Christian civilians in an attempt to inflame inter-religious and inter-ethnic tensions.

According to the Addis Standard, OLA believes the violence was aimed at fracturing collective opposition by pitting communities against one another, including along Oromo–Amhara and Christian–Muslim lines. It has said that “whether in uniform or without, whether carrying a gun or a pen,” any actor who “weaponizes innocent civilians for political ends” would be considered its enemy, adding that it would confront such forces decisively.