Qerro Media Services's Post

#From - OLA HIGH COMMAND

Dear all,

We would like to provide a a few brief updates on the situation in Oromia.
Contrary to what was reported by the Oromia Police Commission, Oromia state officials, and various local media outlets, the commander of the Oromo Liberation Army's Western Zone, Marroo Diribaa, is not dead. Since those false reports came out, he has been interviewed by Arraata Biyyoolessa Oromiyaa/Oromia National Media (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI7oaeZ5zhU) and was seen giving a speech at an event celebrating Guyyaa WBO/OLA Day on January 1st (see Google Drive Folder).
On December 26th, 2020, days before the fake news of Marroo Diribaa's death began to be reported, Ethiopian security forces ransacked the home of Marroo Diribaa's 70 year old parents. Both his parents and their workers were arrested and taken away, while Marroo's mother and the workers were released after sustaining a severe beating, his blind father's whereabouts remain unknown (pictures of Marroo's parents and their ransacked home in the Google Drive Folder). It should be noted this is not the first time security forces have targeted Marroo's family and the families of other OLA fighters for torture, imprisonment, and, in some cases, even death.

The Oromo Liberation Army's Southern Zone held a historic ceremony in celebration of Guyyaa WBO/OLA Day during which it graduated its sixth round of recruits for the year 2020 (see Google Drive Folder). Similarly, the Western Zone graduated its 4th round of recruits for the year 2020 last week. Our numbers continue to grow as are more recruits are trained and as the defection of Oromia Police, Federal Police, and ENDF personnel into our ranks continues.

We are engaging Ethiopian security forces in all zones- Western, Eastern, Central, and Southern. Since the war in Tigray began, the main branches of Ethiopian security forces that we have engaged with are Oromia Special Forces and Ethiopian Federal Police commandos. We have also observed that the government has began an intensive militia training campaign across Oromia, our sources from within the security forces have told us this has been in anticipation of Oromia Special Forces being needed for a possible war with Sudan. We have particularly intensified our operations in the Central Zone and have scored multiple victories in areas around Ambo and Salale.

Regarding this BBC report on the war in Oromia (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55530351?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D)
Where the article states "While it is unclear what exactly the OLA means by the "liberation" of Oromia", we would like to clarify that by liberation we mean nothing more than the full implementation of the 1995 Ethiopian Constitution which guarantees states the right to self-determination up to secession. It is the Oromo peoples' right to determine what they want the future of Oromia to look like and what kind of relationship they want to have with their neighbors. This is a question that only a free and fair referundum can determine the answer to.

The article either directly blames or implies that the Oromo Liberation Army has been responsible for a number of atrocities. We would like to clarify the situation.
The killings in Horo Guduru: We invite journalists to come and see what the situation is like in Horo Guduru and speak to its residents who can attest to the following. The reality is that the Oromia State government deployed a platoon of former OLA soldiers led by a former OLA officer called Faqadaa Abdiisaa (Fekada Abdisa) to this area. Faqadaa and his platoon previously disarmed as part of the Abba Gadaa Council's efforts to demobilize the OLA. He was taken to Tolay military camp where he was the only one of the demobilized OLA officers to agree to cooperate with Ethiopian Federal government's efforts to hunt Marroo Diribaa down. Him and a handpicked number of his platoon along with members of Oromia Special Forces were deployed into Horo Guduru in December of 2019.
By: via Qerro Media Services