Ethiopian soldiers :

Ethiopian state media outlet, Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) on Friday said two separate attacks by rebels left 42 civilians dead.

EBC reported the first attack which occurred on Sunday left 22 civilians dead and the second attack which happened on Thursday left another 20 civilians dead.

Both attacks which happened in the western part of Ethiopia’s Oromia regional state were blamed on fighters belonging to the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), according to the report.

EBA quoting Mulatu Hordofa, Communication Director, Oromia Police Commission, said in the first attack OLA rebels abducted 31 civilians in Dabis locality of Horo-Guduru Wollega zone of Oromia regional state, and later executed 22 of them.

The remaining nine abductees managed to escape their captors.

Hordofa further said that the second attack, which occurred in Horo-Guduru Wollega zone, in an area not far from the first attack site left 20 civilians dead.

The OLA is a breakaway faction of an ex-rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF).

The OLF was designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament in 2011.

It was removed from the terror list in July 2018 to help facilitate negotiations and foster reconciliation. (Xinhua/NAN)