Oromo Liberation Army

Oromo Liberation Army
Oromo Liberation Army (OLA)
Flag of the Oromo Liberation Army
Leaders	Jaal Marroo Sanyi Nagassa  Gammachis Aboye Liban Guracha Sabaif Galgalo Rabira Bilisumma Qeeranso Wayu
Dates of operation	1974–present
Active regions	Oromia Region, Oromia Zone, Ethiopia
Ideology	Oromo nationalism Self-determination Democracy
Status	Active
Allies	State allies Egypt (alleged by Ethiopia, denied by Egypt) Non-state allies TDF (2021-22)
Opponents	State opponents Ethiopia (2018–2024) Non-state opponents Fano
Battles and wars	Ethiopian Civil War Battle of Tiro Tigray War TDF–OLA joint offensive Oromo conflict OLA insurgency 2021 Ataye clashes 2022 North Shewa clashes War in Amhara
Website	https://www.olf-olahq.org/

The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA; Oromo: Waraana Bilisummaa Oromoo, WBO) is an armed opposition group active in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. The OLA consist primarily of former armed members of the pre-peace deal Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who refused to disarm out of skepticism of the peace deal, and former youth protestors who grew disillusioned with nonviolent resistance.

The Ethiopian government now considers the OLF to be a legal political party but the OLA to be a terrorist group, In 2021, the group announced it had established a political wing and would adopt Oromo Liberation Front-Oromo Liberation Army (OLF-OLA) (Oromo: Adda Bilisummaa Oromoo-Waraana Bilisummaa Oromoo, ABO-WBO) as its official name. The Ethiopian government refuses to call the OLA by its chosen name, instead referring to it as Shene (Oromo: Shanee, lit. 'five'), Oneg or OLF-Shene.

On 1 December 2024, OLA reached peace agreement after a year of failed negotiations in Tanzania, signing with Oromia Region President Shimelis Abdisa in Addis Ababa.

Origin

See also: Oromo Liberation Front § History

The Oromo Liberation Army, then the military wing of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), was formed in 1974, evolving from the Bale Revolt that started in the 1960s in response to the Ethiopian government's abuses and oppression of the Oromo people.

In August 2018, a peace agreement was signed between the Ethiopian government and the OLF, declaring a ceasefire, the OLF's disarming of weapons, the continuation of OLF's activities by "peaceful means", and the creation of a joint committee for implementing the agreement. Some factions of OLF's armed wing, the Oromo Liberation Army, refused to disarm out of skepticism of the government's intent to abide by the agreement, thereby disassociating itself from the OLF and leading to the Oromo Liberation Army separate from the OLF in its current form. Many of the OLF members that disarmed ended up flocking back to the OLA after failing to see components of the peace deal be honored.

Peace talks between the government and OLA has been mediated in Tanzania, the first was in April 2023 and the second round in November in collaboration with IGAD. Both of peace deals failed to reach an agreement. On 1 December 2024, OLA leader Jaal Senay Negasa accepted the deal and signed with Oromia Region President Shimelis Abdisa in Addis Ababa.

Leadership

As of the late 2010s, Kumsa Diriba, commonly known by his nom-de-guerre as Jaal Maaroo, is the commander-in-chief of OLA, largely operating with the Western Command. As of 29 November 2021, Gemechu Aboye was the deputy leader of OLA, according to Sveriges Radio. The OLA international spokesperson is Odaa Tarbii.

Aims

In January 2023 the OLF-OLA released a political manifesto in which they laid out their aims:

"We, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), fight for the Oromo people's right to self-determination. We fight for the freedom of the Oromo people from political exclusion, economic exploitation, and socio-cultural marginalization.

a) We fight to realize the Oromo people's right to freely determine their political status. For the right of our people to determine their political destiny and establish a responsive government through freely elected representatives.

b) We fight to secure the Oromo people's economic sovereignty. To stop the exploitation of our people's natural and human resources. To develop these resources for the benefit of all.

c) We fight to realize the socio-cultural rights of our people. We demand respect for and full recognition of the Oromo language, culture, and history. "

Human rights

Policies

In a press release on 10 December 2022, the OLA High Command stated their war was not with any population group and called on the Oromo people to avoid the Ethiopian governments attempts at sparking confrontations with "our brothers and sisters from different communities". They further added on and called for Oromo's to protect members of ethnic minorities in the Oromia region

In their January 2023 political manifesto the OLA reiterated their calls for independent investigations into atrocities or reports of atrocities committed in Oromia, saying "We strongly encourage the international community, through the United Nations and/or other mechanisms, to find out the truth and live up to its pledge of 'Never Again.' On our part, we continue to call for credible, internationally mandated independent investigations into the atrocities or reports of atrocities committed in Oromia."

Accusations

The OLA has been accused of committing extrajudicial killings by the Ethiopian government. The OLA denied the accusations.

On 2 November 2020, 54 people—mostly ethnic Amhara women, children and elderly people—were killed in the village of Gawa Qanqa, after government security forces "abruptly and inexplicably left", by attackers identifying themselves as OLA. OLA denied responsibility. Instead saying:

"The OLA would like to express its deepest condolences to all the victims of these terrible atrocities. We also want to underline that we are not responsible for these acts. The local admin[instration] works alongside Oromia Police & ex-OLA defectors to carry out these operations."

In June 2022, locals on the ground in Ethiopia accused the OLA of killing over 200 ethnic Amhara. The OLA denies these allegations, instead saying the killings were committed by retreating government forces and militia.

The attack you are referring to was committed by the regime's military and local militia as they retreated from their camp in Gimbi following our recent offensive... They escaped to an area called Tole, where they attacked the local population and destroyed their property as retaliation for their perceived support for the OLA. Our fighters had not even reached that area when the attacks took place.

- OLA International Spokesperson "Odaa Tarbii" in a message to AP News

Wall Street Journal investigation

On 21 May 2023, the Wall Street Journal released a publication in which witnesses were attributing massacres to a "Fekade Abdisa". An ex-OLA operative who defected to the government. According to the article, he called himself OLA but he didn't answer to the Commander Jaal Marroo. Residents said Fekade's troops fought the OLA at times but rarely ever engaged with the government.The OLA says he poses as an OLA commander but cooperates with the government. In the massacre at Agamsa, Fekade's forces were a short walk away from the town when Oromia Regional Government decided to leave despite residents urging them not to. Hours later, witnesses say they saw Fekade's men arrive in which they saw 5-18 Amharas killed by his forces.

Karayu Abba Gada killings

On 30 November 2021, 14 traditional ethnic Oromo leaders of the Karayu Oromo community were executed. The government initially had attempted to attribute the killings to the OLA, but after witnesses and two people who managed to escape attributed it to government forces, this led to a fallout in which a Member of the House of Peoples' Representatives, the Ethiopian Human Right's Commission, the State minister for Peace and the secretary of the Oromo Gada leaders council all had publicly implicated the government responsible for the killings.

Accusations by parliament groups of the government framing OLA

On 5 July 2022, Hangassa Ibrahim, a member of the Ethiopian parliament, went on Facebook live stating it was not the OLA that was committing these massacres, but in fact another group formed by actors in the regional government. He stated that "It is rather the Shene organized by these people who have massacred citizens. It is not Jaal Maaroo's Shene [OLA] which has been massacring the people,". He further stated that it was not the OLA's plan to kill and massacre ethnic Amharas but the ruling Prosperity Party and that if Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed does not tear down the cabinet of the Oromia region and replace it with a new one, then the Prime Minister himself is the instigator behind it all.

This corroborates OLA's claim that a government formed state-backed militia called "Gachana Sirna" are the ones responsible for the massacres occurring in Oromia. The OLA states that this militia wears artificial wigs and uniforms to impersonate OLA members. According to a 2021 Ethiopian Human Rights Commission report, there were incidents where government forces would film prisoners after forcing them to wear artificial hair, military uniforms and carry weapons.

Military actions

Main article: OLA insurgency

By late October 2021, the OLA controlled various areas in the Welega Zone, Oromia Region including East, West, Kellam, Horo and Illu. On 1 November, Jaal Marroo stated that the OLA had taken "several towns in western, central, and southern Oromia, facing little resistance from government forces who were retreating."

The OLA also used the opportunity presented by the Tigray War to take brief control of Kamisee on 31 October 2021, as the Tigray Defence Forces advanced on Kombolcha.

In late October 2022, the OLA launched a large-scale military offensive into West and East Welega. On 6 November 2022, they entered the town of Nekemte where they engaged in urban combat with Ethiopian state forces before a same-day retreat.

Legal status

Facebook designates OLA as a "violent non-state actor" on its list of organizations or individuals that proclaim a violent mission or are engaged in violence. According to Facebook's policy, non-state actors that are engaged in a military struggle are not to be allowed on its platform.

On 6 May 2021, the Ethiopian House of Peoples' Representatives declared OLA to be a terrorist organisation.