United Front Condemns the Intensified War on Oromia

Denouncing the intensified war waged by the Abiy Ahmed regime and its allies in Oromia

The war in Oromia, waged by the Ethiopian Prime Minister with the involvement of domestic and foreign allies, has intensified, wreaking havoc throughout the vast Oromia state. Since late 2018, fighting was predominately observed in the West Wollega zone, Guji zone, and various parts of Oromia before the Ethiopian state reverted its efforts to wage a full-scale war on Tigray in November 2020. Upon the Ethiopian National Defense Force’s near-total removal from Tigray, the army increased its presence in central Ethiopia, and since late March 2022, a full- scale war of aggression against the Oromo nation has been taking place.

The Abiy Ahmed regime has often publicly labeled the war in Oromia as a “final” or “decisive” military campaign aimed at eliminating the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). While the ENDF has failed to eradicate the OLA, what has been achieved is the destruction and death as the Ethiopian regime terrorized civilian populations. The use of drones and other highly sophisticated weaponry has caused significant casualties and immense suffering to civilians. We condemn in the strongest terms the drone attacks that took place on April 21, 2022, attacking civilians in Central Oromia, Abuna Gindeberet.

It is worth reiterating that the primary targets of the current offensive in Oromia are Oromo civilians in allegation of their alliance or associations with the OLA. The Abiy Ahmed regime and its domestic and foreign allies routinely target and execute Oromo youth to sow terror and decimate the Oromo nation. The suffering extends beyond the youth population, as forces aligned with the Ethiopian state burn and raze villages.

The Abiy Ahmed regime fuels the current war of aggression on the Oromo nation by engineering a horizontal conflict, pitting neighboring nations and nationalities surrounding Oromia’s bordering areas against one another and fermenting division. To combat the spread of conflict, the United Front is actively working with the political leaders and community elders of each neighboring region to avoid a heightened, unnecessary horizontal clash whose overall objective serves the interest of the dictatorial regime. The Ethiopian regime intensifies conflict in Oromia and beyond so that the people are primarily concerned with survival, and their legitimate demands can go unaddressed. If people are mired in conflict, the federal government hopes they will be too preoccupied to demand a response to the exorbitant cost of living, lack of job opportunities, and essential services. The regime hopes to divert the people’s demands by intensifying horizontal conflicts with severe consequences. It is worth noting that after inciting an unprecedented level of violence between various nations neighboring Oromia, the regime aims to put all blame on OLA and other adversaries for the carnage it meticulously and systematically oversees.

The United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces believes that there will not be a military solution for the multifaceted century-old problems the country is facing. We actively and openly advocate for all-inclusive political dialogue that can only come from open and United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces transparent political dialogue involving all stakeholders. We believe an all-inclusive political dialogue is a solution to break the cycles of civil wars and the suffering of the people inEthiopia.

Ethiopia’s intermittent and sporadic civil wars include the current offensive in Oromia, Tigray, Agaw, Benshangul and Gumuz, Somali Region, Afar, Amhara, Kemant, and previous such encounters in Sidama, Wolayta, Konso, and elsewhere emanate from the fundamental ideological differences in Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed and the Amhara ethno-nationalists are hell-bent on resuscitating a highly centralized, oppressive system known by the mass for enslaving and dehumanizing the nations and nationalities, hence our objection to the return of such oppressive systems.

Therefore, the United Front requests the unconditional cooperation and support of nations and nationalities in Ethiopia who believe in equality, peace, justice, and fraternal coexistence in federated and confederated Ethiopia. Stand with us as we lead the united fight to bring about a lasting solution to Ethiopia’s ongoing tragic political, socio-cultural, and economic difficulties.

We also strongly suggest the international community put their utmost and most realistic pressure on the Ethiopian regime to:

1. Stop the mass killing of Oromo civilians for their thoughts and for supporting the ideals the OLA represents and fights for,
2. Stop pitting one nation against another by deploying militia, security, and Special Forces of all neighboring regions into Oromia;
3. End the war raging in Ethiopia from corner to corner as the ideological and political differences can never be resolved by military means;
4. Unconditionally remove all intelligence and armed forces of the Eritrean national army from Oromia and all of Ethiopia;
5. Allow unfettered humanitarian access to Oromia, Somali, Tigray, Agaw, Kemant, Benishangul-Gumuz, Amhara, and Afar, and all areas affected, to reach the people affected by both war and drought;
6. Allow unfettered access to humanitarian support and end the siege on the Tigray state, whose civilians are left to die painfully denied access to food, medicine, telecommunication, banking, and various necessities;
7. Unconditionally agree to work toward a formation of an independent platform for peace and genuine all-inclusive political dialogue;

the UFEFCF

April 22, 2022