On 2 November 2020, allegedly a group of up to 60 gunmen attacked a schoolyard in the village of Gawa Qanqa in the Guliso District of

West Welega Zone West Welega Zone ( om, Wallagga Lixaa) is a zone in the western part of Oromia Region, Ethiopia. This zone is named after the former province of Welega, whose western part lay in the area West Welega now occupies. West Wellega is bordered on the ...

in the

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benish ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

, killing 32-54 people. The state-run

Ethiopian Human Rights Commission The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ሰብዓዊ መብቶች ኮሚሽን) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) established by the Ethiopian government. The EHRC is charged with promoting human right ...

said the attack had targeted people of the Amhara

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

. 200 people were gathered by an armed group for a meeting and then were shot at by the armed group. Soldiers had reportedly left the area hours before the attack. The Oromia Regional Government blamed the

Oromo Liberation Army The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA; , WBO) is an armed opposition group active in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The OLA consist primarily of former armed members of the pre-peace deal OLF who refused to disarm out of skepticism of the peace deal, ...

for the attack, who denied responsibility. Prime Minister

Abiy Ahmed Abiy Ahmed Ali ( om, Abiyi Ahmed Alii; am, አብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who has been the 4th prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He won the 2019 ...

denounced the attack and promised a thorough investigation. Ethnic violence has increased since he took office.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawa Qanqa massacre 2020 murders in Ethiopia 2020 mass shootings in Africa 21st-century mass murder in Africa Attacks on schools in Africa Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) Mass shootings in Ethiopia Massacres in 2020 Massacres in Ethiopia November 2020 crimes in Africa

Gawa Qanqa massacre On 2 November 2020, allegedly a group of up to 60 gunmen attacked a schoolyard in the village of Gawa Qanqa in the Guliso District of West Welega Zone in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia, killing 32-54 people. The state-run Ethiopian Human Rights C ...

Oromia Region School killings in Africa School shootings School massacres Massacres of Amhara people

See also

References