Police Commission of Oromia Region of Ethiopia says soldiers of Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) were involved in military training and giving mission to the armed group Oromoa Liberation Front (OLF-Shinae), which has been engaged in deadly clashes with in Guji zone Western Oromia Region of Ethiopia.
The Commission said it has arrested 48 criminals involved in killing of innocent people and robbery. Based on the testimonies from the Commission collected from the criminals, TPLF soldiers were engaged in training them and giving them mission, according to Girma Gelan Deputy Commissioner of Oromia Police Commission, who briefed journalists today.
He stated that the 48 suspected criminals being investigated by the Commission are members of the armed OLF-Shinae. During the investigation most of them have confirmed their involvement in the crimes.
“…We have full information that shows involvement of very many soldiers of TPLF in Western Oromia mixing with OLF-Shinae We also have many youth at hand now who were selected by TPLF and taken for training and came back escaping the training. They speak about who trained them and who gave them the mission,” Deputy Commissioner Girma said, indicating that the Commission has finalized about 90 percent of its investigation and ready to open charges against the 48 criminals.
He indicated that among the 48 suspected criminals are also individuals who were involved in Burayu area at the outskirt of Addis Ababa, killings of innocent people.
TPLF, which came to power in 1991 by arms struggle, has been in power as a dominant party in the ruling coalition Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Front (EPRDF) until the reformist Prime Minister came to power in April 2018. Since then TPLF has left the coalition, which later re-branded itself as Prosperity Party led by Prime Minister Abiy.
Ethiopian Prosperity Party is formed involving the three of the four political parties – Oromo Democratic Party, Amhara Democratic Party, and Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM) bringing aboard the five political parties, which have been ruling the peripheral areas of Ethiopia under the protectorate of EPRDF.
Since then TPLF, which refused to be part of the new coalition (Prosperity), has been acting as an opposition party at times threatening the federal government to declare Tigray region of Ethiopia as an independent country. Recently the TPLF has expressed its palm to hold general election refusing to accept federal government parliament decision to suspend the election because of COVID-19.
Oromia’s Police Commission accusation of TPLF for involving in the deadly clashes of Western Oromia came in the middle of this unsettled controversy with Prosperity Party, the ruling coalition which inherited EPRDF, which was the brain child of TPLF.