Overview
- Armed men attacked villages and two churches in Shirka Woreda, Arsi Zone, carrying out door‑to‑door killings, looting and burning homes and using heavy weapons against Orthodox Christian residents.
- Death toll estimates vary across sources from the mid‑40s to more than 60, and wounded people were treated in nearby towns while mass burials began.
- Local witnesses said the assaults lasted hours and that attackers withdrew only after federal troops arrived, while residents accused some local police of supporting militias.
- Oromia officials publicly blamed a group they call 'Tsimdo', no suspects have been named and no arrests were reported as the state human rights commission said it was monitoring the situation.
- The attacks follow a pattern of repeated, often targeted violence in Arsi since 2021 that rights groups say has killed hundreds and displaced communities, raising fears of further sectarian and local instability.