Mount Ziquala monastery attack sparks conflicting claims as OLA denies involvement, blames gov’t strategy to rekindle tensions
The attack has forced seven other monks living in seclusion to abandon their hermitages and relocate to the main monastery compound for safety. “We are living in constant fear,” another monk told Addis Standard. “Those who attack us want us out.”
Monks at the historic Zequala Abune Gebre Menfes Kidus Monastery, located in East Shewa Zone of Oromia, have accused members of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), known to the government as “Shene”, of carrying out a deadly attack that killed a senior clergy member and endangered the community’s continued presence at the religious site.
In response to the allegations, however, a senior OLA official who has participated in both rounds of peace talks with the federal government denied any involvement by OLA fighters and blamed the government for the incident on the government's strategy to rekindle new tensions among different groups in the country.
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The incident occurred on 20 June 2025 at approximately 5:00am. According to a department head at the monastery who spoke to Addis Standard on condition of anonymity, “fighters affiliated with OLA Shene” fatally assaulted Father Haile Michael, a monk who had lived in religious seclusion in the monastery’s sacred “Holy City” for more than a decade.
The monk alleged that Father Haile Michael was physically assaulted, shot, and his body thrown from a cliff. It was later recovered and buried on 24 June with assistance from Oromia Special Forces, who currently provide security to the compound.
The attack has forced seven other monks living in seclusion to abandon their hermitages and relocate to the main monastery compound for safety. “We are living in constant fear,” another monk told Addis Standard. “Those who attack us want us out.”
He described the killing as part of a sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against the monastery by individuals believed to be OLA fighters. The same source cited earlier attacks, including one on 15 September 2023, in which armed men looted over one million birr raised through donations and services. Another incident on 30 September 2023 involved the theft of the monastery’s stored organisational materials.
A particularly deadly episode occurred on 21 February 2024, when four clergy members were killed. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) publicly confirmed the killings days later, naming the victims as Abatekelmariam Asrat, Abba Kidane Mariam Tilahun, Abba Gebremaryam Abebe, and Hailemariam Woldesenbet. A fifth priest, Kidanemariam Gebresenbat, survived but was injured. The Oromia Peace and Security Bureau also attributed that incident to OLA/Shene.
Since then, monks say, their lives have been transformed. “We no longer live freely or pray peacefully,” one said. “We must now be escorted to leave the compound, and we take shifts at night to guard the church.”
Speaking to Addis Standard, the senior OLA official claimed OLA forces are “nowhere near the monastery” and characterised the accusations as part of a deliberate disinformation campaign orchestrated by the government to reignite intercommunal conflict and fracture emerging unity among armed resistance movements.
“This is a coordinated effort to reverse the growing understanding between armed groups, which, despite ideological and political differences, are beginning to transcend ethnic divisions and focus on the regime,” the official said. “The government is deeply unsettled by the decline in horizontal confrontation between Oromo and Amhara fighters.”
According to the official, federal forces previously stationed in the area have been replaced by specialised units aligned with the Oromia regional state, suggesting a shift in tactical operations in the region. The official warned that the framing of OLA for attacks like the one at Zequala was “a knee-jerk response aimed at reviving mistrust and triggering communal violence” at a time when the government is facing mounting resistance.
Neither the federal nor the Oromia region’s governments have issued statements about the incident.
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