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Ethiopian Orthodox Christians Killed in Two Attacks
· Confirmed
In Short: At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Africanews and New Castle News reported that the attacks occurred in Merti and Sherka districts on October 20 and 24, respectively.
Africanews and Persecution reported that more than 20 homes were set on fire and over 20 people were hospitalized with serious injuries. The attacks were believed to be religiously motivated, with reports of an Orthodox church being looted.
New Castle News and Post Register stated that 14 people were killed in Merti district on October 20, and 46 in Sherka district on October 24. Both outlets noted that the victims were all Christians.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission told AFP that it was monitoring the situation and examining the details, while ACLED said attacks against Orthodox Christians in the region had increased since February 2023.
Africanews and Hungarian Conservative reported that church leaders had warned about the impending attacks, but their warnings were ignored. A witness told Hungarian Conservative that armed men went door to door, shooting and stabbing civilians.
The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church called on the Ethiopian government to intervene and protect civilians, urging authorities to bring those responsible to justice.
Oromia, the largest region in Ethiopia with a population of around 40 million, has long faced an insurgency and ethnic tensions among its Muslim, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian communities, tensions increasingly exploited by armed groups.
The attacks have drawn international attention, with Human Rights Watch urging the UN Human Rights Council to resume scrutiny of Ethiopia and grant investigators full access.
Despite the conflicting details, all outlets agree that at least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, with more than 20 homes burned down and over 20 people hospitalized.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and ACLED agree that the attacks were religiously motivated and targeted Orthodox Christians, with reports of an Orthodox church being looted.
Background
At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region.
Russian attacks across Ukraine have killed at least two and injured 35 others over the past day, with repeated strikes hitting Zaporizhzhia.
What's confirmed
- At least 60 people have been killed in two attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region in recent days, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said.
- The Church also said more than 20 homes were set on fire and over 20 people were hospitalised with serious injuries.
- In a statement issued on Monday, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said 14 worshippers were killed in Merti district on 20 October and another 46 in Sherka district on 24 October.
- The church said Monday that 14 people died in Merti district on Oct. 20, and 46 in Shirka district on Saturday.
- The church also reported that more than 20 people were seriously wounded and 20 homes were burned down in the two districts, which are in Oromia’s Arsi Zone.
- The church calls for authorities to condemn the killings and prevent further violence.
- At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in separate attacks on October 20 and 24 in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, with more than 20 others seriously wounded and 20 homes burned down, church officials said in a statement late on Monday.
- Two attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, the country's Orthodox Church said, urging authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice.
- At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region on October 20 and October 24, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Holy Synod said Monday, calling the killings brutal and merciless and pressing authorities to protect civilians.
- Issued on: 23/10/2026 - 16:16 Modified: 23/10/2026 - 18:43 Seven people were killed and 34 injured on Friday when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan ’s Karak governorate, the head of the country’s Public Security Directorate told reporters, in a rare attack on the country’s Christian minority.
What's still developing
- Nov 2020, Wollega: the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found Amhara residents were dragged from their homes and killed after federal troops withdrew; at least 32 died (EHRC, 2020).
- Eight people have died following a shooting at a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan, the health minister said on Saturday.
- Syrian officials said five people were killed in the Jordanian strike on a village in the southern Daraa province Jordan has struck what its military says were "terrorist organisations" in Syria in retaliation for an attack on a Christian funeral last week that killed nine people.
- At least seven people were killed, and 34 others were injured. (Those numbers were later revised to nine deaths and 40 injured.) Authorities have launched an investigation, and the circumstances surrounding the attack remain under investigation.
- Gunmen opened fire at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan on Friday, killing at least seven people and wounding nearly three dozen others, in what Jordanian officials called a terrorist attack.
- According to authorities, three gunmen arrived at the church in a blue pickup truck.
- The attack "will not undermine national unity," the Archbishop of Jerusalem said, affirming that Christians are "part of the history of this country."
- CCTV in Jordan showed what appeared to be gunmen running toward a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, where seven people were killed in what King Abdullah II called an act of terrorism. (Jordan TV via AP) A group of gunmen stormed a Christian church in Jordan during a funeral Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than two dozen, according to authorities.
- The young prophet’s name was Efim Klubnikin, and he found eager listeners among Kim Kardashian ’s ancestors on her father’s side, who were ethnic Armenian but also religious rebels, iconoclasts, at odds with the Orthodox faith in their homeland.
- “I felt it was my duty, this was a heinous act,” he told The National newspaper.
- "The security services have fulfilled their duties, resulting in the capture of those who carried out this terrorist act," he said in a phone interview with state TV Al-Mamlaka.