By ONA News Desk
November 3, 2026

MOYALE / LONDON — A harrowing picture of escalating violence, mass displacement, and deadly misinformation is emerging from the Borana zone in southern Oromia, following a new press release from the UK-based Oromia Support Group (OSG). The organization alleges that heavily armed Somali militia and Somali Region forces, potentially backed by al-Shabaab fighters, launched a devastating campaign against Oromo civilians in Moyale and surrounding districts between October 21 and 30.

According to the OSG, the violence has been met with little to no response from Ethiopian federal or regional forces. Instead, the group reports that federal troops themselves killed five Oromo civilians in the Borana zone earlier in the month on October 10.

A Spark of Violence and Grisly Discoveries

The OSG points to October 18 as a critical flashpoint, when the Somali Region and Somalia national flags were reportedly raised at an office on the Oromo side of Moyale. Following this, a 13-year-old girl, Diqqoo Jaataan Aaagaa, was killed. The OSG states that Somali forces denied her family access to her body for several days.

While national and international media have reported a death toll of nine, the OSG insists the true number of fatalities is much higher. On October 25, a reliable informant reportedly sent the OSG gruesome photographic evidence of ten severed heads and the mutilated body of an Oromo policeman. The group notes that while demonstrations by Oromo residents erupted on October 21, they were rapidly crushed as the violence intensified.

The humanitarian toll is staggering. By November 1, more than 50,000 residents had fled across the border into Kenya, with thousands more seeking refuge in the towns of Yabelo, Mega, Bokku, and Dubuluk. The OSG notes that the Borana Oromo have been pushed westward by Somali forces, losing much of their ancestral pastoral land—described as the cradle of the Oromo people and a historic stronghold of Gadaa democracy—over the last 140 years.

Misinformation and Regional Backlash

The OSG is sharply criticizing Somali media for what it calls “distorted and inaccurate reporting” that frames the violence as “Oromo expansionism” by an “Oromo government.” The organization vehemently rejects this, arguing that Oromo territory has actually shrunk and that the Oromo people are targets of the regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed—a situation they describe as “drying out the ocean to catch the fish.”

This inflammatory rhetoric has had dangerous real-world consequences. On October 29, reportedly in response to these media reports, mobs in the city of Borama in Somaliland burnt down over 150 homes belonging to Oromo refugees. Thousands of refugees in Hargeisa now reportedly fear an increase in violence from their host communities.

Furthermore, the OSG warns that similarly misinformed accusations regarding the Oromo Liberation Army’s involvement in the recent killing of 60 Ethiopian Orthodox Christians in the Arsi zone are deliberately designed to foment discord between the Amhara and Oromo people.

Desperate Pleas from Yemen

Beyond the Horn of Africa, the OSG is also raising the alarm over the plight of destitute Oromo refugees in Yemen. The organization reports receiving desperate pleas for help from refugees who are suffering from fatal Saudi air attacks on Sana’a and a migrant detention center near the border in Sadaa. These refugees are facing severe insecurity as Houthi forces encircle Taiz and occupy the war zone around the al-Kharaz refugee camp, north of Aden. Citing an Al Jazeera report from a Yemeni rights group, the OSG noted that 189 civilians were killed by Houthi militia between September 1 and October 29.

As the situation on the ground remains highly volatile, the OSG is calling for immediate international attention. The organization notes that further details on the killings will be published in OSG Report 75.

For further information, contact:
Dr Trevor Trueman, Chair, OSG
Email: osg@talktalk.net
Phone: +44 (0)7852 448337

The OSG Press Release: Somali Region forces attack Oromo civilians in Moyale