Tuesday, 28 March, 2023
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Three killed in attacks on Ethiopian Orthodox church: report

Three killed in attacks on Ethiopian Orthodox church: report

Three people have been killed in attacks on a church in southern Ethiopia on Saturday, according to reports by a religious media outlet.

The violence erupted against a backdrop of tensions in the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church after rebel bishops created their own synod in Oromia, the country's most populous region.

Abune Henok, Archbishop of Addis Ababa Diocese, described the incidents in the Oromia city of Shashamene as "shameful and heartwrenching", according to the Church-affiliated Tewahedo Media Center (TMC).

The TMC said two Orthodox Christian youths had been killed, and another four people injured, when Oromia special forces attacked the church in Shashamene, which lies about 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Addis Ababa. It was not possible to independently verify the reports.