The insurgents launched a prison break attack in the southern City of Bule Hora, according to a rebel leader of Ethiopia’s Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).
“After an hour-long fight with government forces, we broke [into] the prison and freed more than 2,000 people who have been jailed after being accused of supporting the OLA,” Jaal Abdisa, OLA deputy commander for West Guji, which includes Bule Hora, told the BBC:
Local authorities estimate that only 480 people managed to flee. The BBC was informed by locals that they had heard gunfire for several hours.
Its sympathizers, who were being held by the government, according to Commander Jaal Abdisa, were released during the prison breach.
However, it was a bloody operation that resulted in the deaths of several police personnel. According to local authorities, some of those who fled were OLA members and others were convicted criminals.
Details of the attack, which took place last weekend, have just now started to surface due to the remoteness and danger of the area. Mobile phone footage of the chaotic nighttime scene that was shared following the prison break.
The BBC was unable to independently verify the video, but it appears to show armed combatants wandering about while detainees hurriedly grab their possessions. Then a man’s voice congratulates the inmates on their OLA release.
The OLA has been labeled a terrorist organization by the parliament of Ethiopia. The Oromo people, who make up 40% of Ethiopia’s population, are allegedly the target of oppression.
Fighting has gotten worse in the populated Oromia region despite efforts to bring about peace in northern Ethiopia.
