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Ethiopia: dozens of rebels killed – look

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Ethiopian policemen, holding flags in the colors of the national flag, march in Meskel Square during a parade to showcase the new police uniform and to remind people to maintain impartiality and respect the law during the upcoming elections. A few hours before the election in Ethiopia, the authorities in Africa's second largest country report successes in the fight against rebels of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Photo: Ben Curtis / AP / dpa

Ben Curtis

Ethiopian policemen, holding flags in the colors of the national flag, march in Meskel Square during a parade to showcase the new police uniform and to remind people to maintain impartiality and respect the law during the upcoming elections. A few hours before the election in Ethiopia, the authorities in Africa’s second largest country report successes in the fight against rebels of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). Photo: Ben Curtis / AP / dpa

In an operation started four days ago, dozens of OLA supporters and one of the leaders were killed, the Oromia Police Commission announced. There was initially no independent confirmation of this. The OLA, which claims to be fighting for the rights of the Oromo ethnic group, is held responsible for fatal attacks on the central government as well as on other ethnic groups.

In the region, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s ruling party will run unchallenged in 60 constituencies in next week’s election with no opponents. The polls are overshadowed by the Tigray conflict, in which the government in Addis Ababa is repeatedly accused of using violence and rape against the population in Tigray. Abiy Ahmed started a military offensive there in November against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which had been in power there until then.