Ethiopian rebel leader rejects accusations of targeting civilians in rare interview from hideout

(2 Feb 2026)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4634683

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: East Wollega, Oromia, Ethiopia - 15 July 2025
1. OLA fighters at orientation session
2. Various of OLA fighters talking under tree

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Western Oromia, Ethiopia – 17 July 2025
3. Kumsa Diriba, also known as Jaal Marroo, commander-in-chief of the Oromo Liberation Army, writing at a desk in his hideout
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Kumsa Diriba aka Jaal Marroo, commander-in-chief of the Oromo Liberation Army:
“Our troops operate under strict military discipline and a clear political vision. We categorically reject and condemn any act that harms innocent civilians."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Nairobi, Kenya – 27 January 2026
5. Sarah Kimani, Media Manager, Amnesty International, working on her laptop
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sarah Kimani, Media Manager, Amnesty International East and Southern Africa Regional Office:
“The research that we conducted puts both the OLA and the government forces in the middle of the conflict in terms of summary executions, in terms of torture, in terms of abductions, in terms of rape of women. So what we are saying is our report is able to point to both groups having been responsible for the atrocities that are being carried out in the Oromia region and that continue to be carried out against civilians in the region."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: OLA Western Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia - 2 June 2025
7. Part overlaid with various shots of OLA fighters

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – 5 May 2025
9. General views of Addis Ababa

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Central Oromia, Ethiopia - 16 July 2025
10. Adugna, fighter who dreamed of joining the movement, retrieving his fighting equipment from his makeshift home
11. Various of Adugna
12. Adugna and other OLA fighters, including female fighters, walking through the bush

STORYLINE:
Wanted by the Ethiopian government, rebel military leader Jaal Marroo moves constantly to stay ahead of drones hunting him from the skies.

The rebel commander leads the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) from a series of remote forest outpost in Oromia, the country’s biggest region with a population of roughly 40 million people.

The government has designated the former student as a terrorist, accusing the OLA of massacring civilians in ethnically motivated attacks.

But in a rare interview from one of his hideouts, Marroo rejected accusations that his fighters target civilians.

“Our troops operate under strict military discipline and a clear political vision,” he told The Associated Press. We categorically reject and condemn any act that harms innocent civilians."

The OLA has been battling Ethiopia’s government since 2018, even if at times the rebellion was overshadowed by the country’s other conflicts, such as the 2020-2022 war in the northern Tigray region.

United Nations investigators have accused the OLA of serious abuses, including killings, rapes and kidnappings.

But human rights monitors, who have also documented violations by government forces, say indiscriminate drone strikes, extrajudicial killings and disappearances have become a hallmark of their counterinsurgency campaign.

“The research that we conducted puts both the OLA and the government forces in the middle of the conflict in terms of summary executions, in terms of torture, in terms of abductions, in terms of rape of women,” said Sarah Kimani, a regional spokesperson for Amnesty International, which will publish a report in March into human rights abuses in the region.
















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