The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA; , WBO) is an armed opposition group active 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 ...

. 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, and former youth protestors who grew disillusioned with nonviolent resistance. The Ethiopian government now considers the OLF to be a legal political party but the OLA to be a terrorist group, though the OLA is accused of continuing to act as the armed wing of the OLF. In 2021, the group announced it had established a political wing and would adopt ''Oromo Liberation Front-Oromo Liberation Army (OLF-OLA)'' (Oromo: Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo-Waraana Bilisummaa Oromoo, ABO-WBO) as its official name. The Ethiopian government refuses to call the OLA by its chosen name, instead referring to it as Shene (), or OLF-Shene.

Origin

The

Oromo Liberation Front The Oromo Liberation Front ( om, Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo, abbreviated: ABO; English abbreviation: OLF) is an Oromo nationalist political party formed in 1973 to promote self-determination for the Oromo people inhabiting today's Oromia Region and ...

(OLF) was formed in 1974, evolving from Oromo insurgencies starting in the 1960s in response to perceived injustices by the groups in power. In August 2018, a

peace agreement A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surren ...

was signed between the

Ethiopian government The government of Ethiopia () is the federal government of Ethiopia. It is structured in a framework of a federal parliamentary republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. T ...

and the OLF, declaring a

ceasefire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

, the continuation of OLF's activities by "peaceful means", and the creation of a joint committee for implementing the agreement. Armed components of the OLF who distrusted the peace deal, seeing "no room for a peaceful political resolution", formed the Oromo Liberation Army as a separate group from the OLF. In June 2021, Nagessa Dube, former attorney-general of

, described the OLA as the "armed wing" of the OLF.

Leadership

As of the late 2010s, Jaal Marroo (born ''Kumsa Diriba)'' is the commander-in-chief of OLA, largely operating with the Western Command. , Gemechu Aboye was the deputy leader of OLA, according to ''

Sveriges Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is d ...

''.

Aims

In November 2021, Jaal Gammachiis Aboye described the goal of OLA as "liberating" Oromos, after which Oromos would have to vote on their future and decide on inter-ethnic relations.

Recruitment

Soretti claimed that OLA was attracting recruits in July 2021 because "Oromia asa war zone under the administration of the

Prosperity Party The Prosperity Party ( am, ብልጽግና ፓርቲ, Bilits’igina Paritī; om, Paartii Badhaadhiinaa) is a political party in Ethiopia that was established on 1 December 2019 as a successor to the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic F ...

". According to Odaa Tarbii, OLA spokesperson, 1165

Oromia 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 ...

Special Forces defected to the OLA and 400 of them from Laga Tafo area.

Human rights

Policies

In a press release on December 10th, 2022, the OLA High Command stated their war was not with any population group and called on the Oromo people to avoid the Ethiopian governments attempts at sparking confrontations with "our brothers and sisters from different communities". They further added on and called for Oromo's to protect members of ethnic minorities in the Oromia region Soretti Kadir argues that the OLA limits extrajudicial executions to officials suspected of war crimes, stating that OLA has a "grading system

o use O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...

when applying

international humanitarian law International humanitarian law (IHL), also referred to as the laws of armed conflict, is the law that regulates the conduct of war (''jus in bello''). It is a branch of international law that seeks to limit the effects of armed conflict by prot ...

oOromo people", in which people supporting OLA's opponents out of coercion or family need are "not considered a target". Those that are "engaged in supporting the government out of the desire to attain wealth, power, notoriety or, just enjoy oppressing others ... are considered a target."

Accusations

The OLA has been accused of committing

extrajudicial executions An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether ...

by the Ethiopian government. The OLA denied the accusations. On 2 November 2020, 54 people—mostly Amhara women, children and elderly people—were killed in the village of Gawa Qanqa, after government security forces "abruptly and inexplicably left", by attackers identifying themselves as OLA. OLA denied responsibility. Instead saying: ''“The OLA would like to express its deepest condolences to all the victims of these terrible atrocities. We also want to underline that we are not responsible for these acts. The local admin nstrationworks alongside Oromia Police & ex-OLA defectors to carry out these operations.”'' Overall, from April 2018 to April 2020, OLA killed 700 civilians according to Haaji Umar Nagessa, who was himself assassinated by the OLA on 4 April 2020. In June 2021, Nagessa Dube listed 20 assassinations by OLA, including that of Liban Halake, a

Araddaa A ward ( am, ቀበሌ; om, Araddaa; ) is the smallest administrative unit of Ethiopia: a ward, a neighbourhood or a localized and delimited group of people. It is part of a district, itself usually part of a zone, which in turn are grouped into ...

leader; and on 17 May 2021 of Waaqgaarii Qajeelaa, head of transportation for

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 ...

and five other officials. According to Nagessa, the assassinations are typically announced by OLA on its

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

online social mediapage. Nagessa stated that he had received death threats and that OLA sees the assassination of critics such as him as "righteous". In June 2022, locals on the ground in Ethiopia accused the OLA of killing over 200 ethnic Amhara. The OLA denies these allegations and said the killings were committed by a pro government militia.

Military actions

By late October 2021, the OLA controlled various areas in the Welega Zone,

including

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

, Kellam, Horo and Illu. On 1 November, Jaal Marroo stated that the OLA had taken "several towns in western, central, and southern

, facing little resistance from government forces who were retreating." The OLA also used the opportunity presented by the

Tigray Conflict The Tigray War; ; . was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray Peop ...

to take brief control of

Kamisee Kemise (; ) is a town and administrative seat of the Oromia Zone in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. Kemise is northeast of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa and has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation of 1424 meters above sea level. It ...

on 31 October 2021, as the

Tigray Defence Forces The Tigray Defense Forces ( ti, ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ, italic=no; TDF: ሓምት), colloquially ''Tigray Army'' () is a paramilitary rebel group in Tigray. It was founded by distant former generals of Ethiopia in 2020 ...

advanced on

Kombolcha Kombolcha () is a town and district in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, it has a latitude and longitude of with an elevation between 1842 and 1915 meters above sea level. Some guide books describe Ko ...

Legal status

On 6 May 2021, the Ethiopian

House of Peoples' Representatives The House of Peoples' Representatives is the lower house of the Ethiopia, Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. Located in the capital Addis Ababa, the House has 547 members. All are elected in theory for five-year term in single-seat constit ...

declared OLA to be a terrorist organisation.

Analysis

Soretti Kadir claimed in July 2021 that OLA's actions were "responding to systemic and enduring state violence" by the federal Ethiopian government. Nagesa Dube argues that "OLA does apparently target civilian government employees to instill fear in the public".

References

{{reflist, refs= {{Cite web , last=Tolessa Bessa , first=Tesfaye , year=2019 , title=A history of Oromo literature and identity issues (c. 1840-1991) , url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/bitstream/handle/123456789/20102/Tesfaye%20Tolessa.pdf , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104215054/http://etd.aau.edu.et/bitstream/handle/123456789/20102/Tesfaye%20Tolessa.pdf , archive-date=4 November 2021 , access-date=4 November 2021 , website=

Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest university in Ethiopia. AAU has thirteen campuses. Twelve of these are situated in Addis Ababa, ...

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Africanews Africanews is a French multilingual news network, formerly headquartered in Pointe-Noire, Republic of the Congo. Budget concerns caused by the coronavirus forced the channel to permanently shift operations to a small newsroom at the headquarter ...

, url=https://www.africanews.com/2018/08/07/ethiopia-govt-agrees-peace-deal-with-ex-terror-group-based-in-eritrea/ , url-status=live , access-date=12 August 2018 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204084706/https://www.africanews.com/2018/08/07/ethiopia-govt-agrees-peace-deal-with-ex-terror-group-based-in-eritrea , archive-date=4 December 2020 {{Cite news , last=Kadir , first=Soretti , date=27 July 2021 , title=Ethiopia: The Oromo Liberation Front is not a terrorist organisation , work=

The Africa Report ''The Africa Report'' is an English-language quarterly magazine that focuses on African politics and economics. History and profile Created in 2005 by Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 2 ...

, url=https://www.theafricareport.com/111812/ethiopia-the-oromo-liberation-front-is-not-a-terrorist-organisation , url-status=live , access-date=4 November 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727095151/https://www.theafricareport.com/111812/ethiopia-the-oromo-liberation-front-is-not-a-terrorist-organisation , archive-date=27 July 2021 {{Cite news , last=Dube , first=Nagessa , date=18 June 2021 , title=Ethiopia: Victory for the Oromo will come from winning hearts and minds, not terrorising people , work=

, url=https://www.theafricareport.com/99330/ethiopia-victory-for-the-oromo-will-come-from-winning-hearts-and-minds-not-terrorising-people , url-status=live , access-date=4 November 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808041418/https://www.theafricareport.com/99330/ethiopia-victory-for-the-oromo-will-come-from-winning-hearts-and-minds-not-terrorising-people , archive-date=8 August 2021 {{Cite news , date=1 November 2021 , title=Oromo Liberation Army: On the ground with Ethiopian fighters , work=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, url=https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-59095778 , url-status=live , access-date=2 November 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101223244/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-59095778 , archive-date=1 November 2021 {{Cite web , date=2 November 2020 , title=At least 54 killed in Ethiopia massacre, says Amnesty , url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/02/killed-ethiopia-massacre-amnesty-oromia-amhara , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103001236/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/02/killed-ethiopia-massacre-amnesty-oromia-amhara , archive-date=3 November 2020 , access-date=3 November 2020 , website=The Guardian {{Cite web , date=2 November 2020 , title=Ethiopia: over 50 killed in 'horrendous' attack on village by armed group , url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/ethiopia-over-50-killed-horrendous-attack-village-armed-group , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201102211728/https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/ethiopia-over-50-killed-horrendous-attack-village-armed-group , archive-date=2 November 2020 , access-date=3 November 2020 , publisher=Amnesty International {{Cite news , last=Zelalem , first=Zecharias , date=20 March 2021 , title=Worsening violence in western Ethiopia forcing civilians to flee , publisher=

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

, url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/20/worsening-violence-western-ethiopia-forcing-civilians-to-flee , url-status=live , access-date=22 March 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/7Pene , archive-date=22 March 2021 {{Cite news , last=Dube , first=Nagessa , date=3 August 2020 , title=Guji Oromo need freedom from liberators , work=

Ethiopia Insight 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 no ...

, url=https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2020/08/03/guji-oromo-need-freedom-from-liberators , url-status=live , access-date=22 March 2021 , archive-url=https://archive.today/5JUlQ , archive-date=22 March 2021 {{Cite web , last=Zewdu Teshome , first=Moges , date=20 October 2021 , title=We must end the civil war to save Ethiopia , url=https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/10/20/we-must-end-the-civil-war-to-save-ethiopia , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101231318/https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2021/10/20/we-must-end-the-civil-war-to-save-ethiopia , archive-date=1 November 2021 , access-date=1 November 2021 , website=

{{Cite news , date=1 November 2021 , title=Tigrayan and Oromo forces say they have seized towns on Ethiopian highway , work=

TimesLIVE ''TimesLIVE'' is a South African online newspaper that started as ''The Times'' daily newspaper. ''The Times'' print version was an offshoot of ''Sunday Times'', to whose subscribers it was delivered gratis; non-subscribers paid R2.50 per edi ...

, url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2021-11-01-tigrayan-and-oromo-forces-say-they-have-seized-towns-on-ethiopian-highway , url-status=live , access-date=1 November 2021 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211101224010/https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2021-11-01-tigrayan-and-oromo-forces-say-they-have-seized-towns-on-ethiopian-highway , archive-date=1 November 2021 {{Cite news , last=Myrenberg , first=Richard , date=2021-11-29 , title=Oromo-gerillan: Abiy är som en döende häst , language=sv , trans-title=Oromo guerillas: Abiy is like a dying horse , work=

, url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/oromo-gerillan-abiy-ar-som-en-doende-hast , url-status=live , access-date=2021-11-29 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129211913/https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/oromo-gerillan-abiy-ar-som-en-doende-hast , archive-date=2021-11-29 {{void, example citation code for copying/pasting: {{cite news , last1= , first1= , last2= , first2= , pages= , language = , title= , trans-title = , date= , publisher= , newspaper= , url=, access-date= 2021... , archive-url=, archive-date= 2021... , url-status=live {{cite web , last1 = , first1 = , last2= , first2= , authorlink = , language = , title= , trans-title = , work = , publisher = , website= , date = , url=, format = , doi = , access-date = 2021... , archive-url=, archive-date= 2021... , url-status=live Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present) Organizations designated as terrorist Rebel groups in Ethiopia *