Falls Church, Virginia – Yesterday, on April 26, 2022, a brutal attack took place on mourners at the funeral of prominent Sheik Kamal Legas. A statement released today by the Addis Abeba Islamic Affairs’ High Council described the attack as a “planned massacre” and placed the current death toll at 21 individuals. In addition to the massacre, the Council stated that “mosques and Qur’ans were burned down, women were raped and properties belonging to Muslims in the city were destroyed.” The Amhara Regional State Islamic Affairs Council also issued a statement calling on the regional government to end continued attacks on the Muslim community.
While the Amhara Regional State Government has thus far been vague in its description of the perpetrators, with the head of the regional security bureau Desalegn Tasew describing them as an “unnamed group of people who attacked the mourners with rocks”, sources are reporting that the Amhara militias (Fano) are responsible for the attack. This echoes previous attacks by the group, which have typically been conducted along inter-ethnic (specifically targeting Oromo, Tigrayam, Gumuz, Kimant, and other minority groups within the region), and now, it appears, religious lines. OLLAA expresses our deep concern that such horrific targeted attacks will only escalate if left unchecked.
The Amhara regional government, which stated that it was “deeply saddened by the loss of life, limb and property in the conflict” has been criticised for failing to articulate the extent of the damage in its statement or the number of casualties. OLLAA deeply condemns this unprovoked attack on the Gondar Muslim community who had gathered together to mourn and celebrate the life of the widely beloved Sheik and calls on the Amhara Regional State Government to do everything in its power to bring the perpetrators to justice. We also call on the Ethiopian federal government to launch an independent investigation into this attack, and to ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable.
Following the attack that took place yesterday, the Addis Standard reports that thousands of Muslims rallied in front of the Grand Anuwar Mosque in Addis Abeba to protest the violence and demand justice for the victims. In its statement, the Addis Abeba Islamic Affairs’ High Council urged peaceful handling of the situation to ensure that such events cannot happen again.
OLLAA stands in solidarity with our Muslim brothers and sisters across the entire country and expresses our profound sorrow at the tragic loss of life and destruction of property in yesterday’s attack. We call on the international community, alongside the Amhara regional and Ethiopian federal governments, to condemn all forms of sectarian and religiously targeted violence and hold all perpetrators to account.
OLLAA is an umbrella organization that represents dozens of Oromo communities around the world.