When we documented the targeting of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the warning was simple: the pattern was escalating, and it was going unanswered. The months since have confirmed both halves of that sentence. The attacks in the Arsi zone have continued and widened; the response from those with the power to stop them has not come.
What follows is a record of the most recent, independently reported incidents — not a re-statement of the full case, which is set out in our investigation, but the evidence of an unbroken line from our alert to today.
· · ·
Since our alert — recent, independently reported attacks
Oct 2025
East Arsi, Oromia. More than 25 civilians were reported killed in East Arsi during October; Ethiopian Catholic bishops condemned attacks on 25 and 27 October.
Source: ACI Africa 26 Feb 2026
East Arsi, Oromia. Gunmen stormed a market and a church mid-service, killing about 20 Orthodox Christians and a Muslim guard; a priest was among the dead, and homes and crops were burned.
Source: Open Doors UK 4 Mar 2026
Jawi (Shirka) and Geba (Robe), East Arsi, Oromia. The state Ethiopian Human Rights Commission cites up to 30 civilians killed in renewed attacks since October 2025 and verifies those of 26 February in Jawi and Geba; it names no perpetrator for the 2026 attacks.
Source: Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, via allAfrica 7 Mar 2026
Atronse Mariam monastery, Mehal Sayint, Amhara. Mortar fire struck the historic monastery shortly after morning mass, killing six clergy and religious students and wounding 28. Eyewitnesses cited by the BBC pointed to state artillery fired from Guameda.
Source: BBC Amharic 2 Jun 2026
Aleko Teleta, Arsi, Oromia. At least 37 Orthodox Christians were killed, some 280 homes burned and St. Gabriel church torched; others remain missing. The Borkena text also speaks of 280 households displaced, and the EHRC cites an unverified number of homes: the figure of 280 is unconfirmed.
Source: Borkena 9 Jun 2026
Aseko, Arsi, Oromia. Preliminary findings of the state Ethiopian Human Rights Commission: three people killed between 30 May and 1 June (two Orthodox Christians and one Muslim), with security-force casualties, large-scale displacement and property destruction. The Arsi diocese of the Orthodox Church reports at least 13 Orthodox civilians killed in separate attacks in Aseko, Shirka and Honqolo Wabe.
Source: Wazema Briefings 27 Jul 2026
East Arsi, Oromia (nine districts). The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) publishes a 37-page report covering September 2021 to June 2026: district figures add up to 458 deaths, including four local militiamen, and more than 14,000 people displaced; the names of the dead are published. It refers to armed groups and describes the acts as bearing the hallmarks of crimes against humanity; the federal and Oromia governments attribute the attacks to the OLA.
Source: Borkena (reporting EHRCO) 12–18 Oct 2026
Shirka and Honqolo Wabe, Arsi, Oromia. At least six people killed and five abducted in separate attacks, according to BBC Amharic’s sources, which it could not verify independently; the Orthodox Church named victims in a statement of 15 October. Local officials did not respond.
Source: BBC Amharic, via Amhara Association of America 24 Oct 2026
Shirka, Arsi, Oromia (Birbo, Chole and Sole Guna). BBC Amharic (25 Oct), citing three eyewitnesses and church sources, reports more than 40 killed, at least five of them children, in an attack on the Birbo and Chole kebeles that began around 5 a.m. on Saturday 24 October. Three residents put the toll at 46 and a church source at 43 in Chole alone; the dead were buried together in a single grave at St Raphael church, and about 20 wounded were taken to hospital. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says it is monitoring the case and has nothing concrete yet. The BBC could not reach the Oromia communication office; local media quote its head, Haylu Adunya, blaming the armed alliance Tsimdo. The Arsi diocese issued a statement the same day, without figures. Earlier reports are consistent: TIKVAH Ethiopia (anonymous church officials) more than 40 dead; Borkena at least 47, placing the attack at night; Meseret Media more than 45. Lists of names circulating on social media have not been verified. No official count has been published.
Source: BBC Amharic; TIKVAH Ethiopia; Borkena; Meseret Media 37 Orthodox Christians killed in a single massacre at Aleko Teleta, in the Arsi zone, in early June 2026 — with some 280 homes burned and a church torched. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's Holy Synod has condemned the killings and named the dead. Ethiopia's Catholic bishops have called for independent investigations. Neither the federal nor the regional government has opened a credible one, prosecuted those responsible, or moved to protect the communities being hit. The silence our investigation described is no longer an absence of attention — it is a choice, repeated.
For the full, sourced background — the clergy killings, the holy sites in the line of fire, and the pattern they form — read our investigation: The oldest faith, the newest target →
And for our reading of what these killings mean — the forces behind them, and the response we are calling for — see our analysis: The Arsi Massacre: silence, blood, and impunity →
