Renewed Violence Targets Communities in Benishangul-Gumuz, Raising Concerns Over Systematic Ethnic Persecution
Over 50 civilians, including women and children as young as five years old, have been massacred in a coordinated attack on Bakuji Kebele in Bulen District, Metekel Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz region on Saturday, November 22, 2025. The attack, reportedly carried out by armed militants identifying themselves as “Shene,” represents one of the deadliest incidents in the troubled region in recent months and appears part of a pattern of ethnic-targeted violence against Amhara communities across the area.
Attack Details and Casualty Reports
Multiple sources from the affected area report that heavily armed gunmen entered Bakuji around 5:30 AM and systematically conducted house-to-house killings throughout the day. Witnesses describe a coordinated, prolonged assault lasting until approximately 8:00 PM, with attackers using firearms and knives to execute civilians. In some households, as many as five family members were killed. Many victims, including children aged five, six, and ten, were reportedly killed in their sleep.
Initial casualty reports range from 36 to over 50 deaths, with the toll expected to rise as wounded individuals admitted to hospitals remain in life-threatening conditions. At least ten victims are confirmed to be women. One eyewitness account documented a relative being shot in the head and leg, subsequently requiring medical referral to Bahir Dar for treatment.
Bulen Woreda Deputy Administrator Shibeshi Bareda confirmed the attack on Sunday, describing the perpetrators as an “extremist militant group” and characterizing the assault as “horrific” and “cruel.” The Woreda administration expressed condolences but refrained from providing specific casualty figures or publicly naming the attackers. When reached by media, Bulen Woreda Administrator Nemera Maru initially reported 36 deaths and claimed that security forces killed more than ten militants during the incident, though these figures remain disputed and appear lower than resident accounts.
Ethnic Targeting and Pattern of Violence
The evidence strongly suggests the attack targeted communities based on ethnic identity. The Coalition for Ethiopian Unity, an opposition coalition, released a joint statement confirming that the assault predominantly targeted ethnic Amhara, though members of ethnic Gumuz and Shinasha communities were also killed. Over ten confirmed victims are women, and the systematic nature of the attacks, coupled with deliberate targeting of specific communities, indicates intent that extends beyond criminal activity.
This massacre follows a documented pattern of organized violence against ethnic Amharas in the Benishangul-Gumuz and Oromia regions spanning the past seven years. In December 2020, over 200 ethnic Amharas were massacred in Bulen District alone. According to the Ethiopian Human Rights Council’s 2021 assessment, over 500 civilians were killed across the region during 2020-2021, with more than 100,000 displaced.
Security Absence and Armed Capacity
Opposition political leaders have pointed to a critical gap in government security response. Despite documented serious security threats and ongoing violence in the region, residents report that government security forces were absent from the area during the attack. Residents themselves attempted to mount a defense, but local militia members did not begin engaging attackers until 7:00 AM, more than an hour after the assault commenced, and were overwhelmed by the attackers’ superior weaponry and organization.
The attackers were reportedly equipped with advanced military-grade weapons, including DShK and Bren machine guns, suggesting either substantial external support or diversion of military resources from state security forces. The sophistication and coordination of the attack, combined with access to heavy weaponry, indicates organizational capacity well beyond typical criminal activity.
Displacement and Ongoing Crisis
The massacre has triggered immediate displacement, with large numbers of residents, primarily women and children—fleeing the area. Day laborers from other regions working in the kebele are among those who have fled, many heading toward Awi Zone in the neighboring Amhara Region. Shinasha community members, with fewer options for relocation, are sheltering locally with access to limited resources. The Woreda administration has warned that areas including Bulen and Addis Alem remain “under threat,” indicating that security concerns persist.
The timing of the attack—during the agricultural harvest season—has compounded the humanitarian impact, as families face the choice between remaining to protect crops or fleeing to safety. Many have prioritized family security over livelihood preservation and abandoned their property.
Longer History of Regional Instability
The Metekel Zone has remained one of Ethiopia’s most volatile regions since 2019, despite a period of relative stability in 2022. Renewed violence beginning in May 2025 has destabilized the zone and affected multiple woredas including Bulen, Wenbera, Guba, Dibati, Dangur, and Mandura. Community leaders report that violence continues to spread, now affecting five of the seven districts of Metekel.
Between 2019 and 2022, sustained attacks in the region displaced over 101,000 people. The pattern of violence includes the December 2020 Bukeji Kebele massacre that killed over 200 civilians in a single day. In March 2021, a federal parliamentary committee investigating the violence accused Egypt and Sudan of fueling regional instability through illegal arms trafficking and border-based militia training allegations, to which neither country publicly responded.
Attribution and Disputed Perpetrators
Residents and local officials consistently attribute attacks to militants identifying themselves as “Shene,” an ethnic Oromo militant nationalist group. However, “Shene” has not officially claimed responsibility for this attack, as has been the pattern with similar incidents.
In July 2025, authorities accused OLA (Oromo Liberation Army)-linked fighters of launching attacks in the region, yet the OLA has repeatedly denied involvement in Metekel-area killings. A senior OLA representative stated the group was “not aware of any incidents involving civilian casualties” and accused the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) of targeting local Benishangul-Gumuz militias “under the pretext of failure to secure the area.”
The competing claims regarding perpetrator identity underscore the complexity of the security crisis, though residents consistently point to “Shene” as responsible for this specific attack.
Economic and Gold Extraction Context
According to Bulen Administrator Nemera Maru, attackers have engaged in property looting and illegal gold extraction operations in the region. “They operate with the mentality that the gold belongs to them,” he stated. The targeting of gold traders and economic activity centers suggests that control of resource extraction areas may be a motivation underlying the violence, in addition to ethnic targeting.
Government Reconciliation Efforts and Breakdown
The Benishangul-Gumuz regional government previously attempted to stabilize the region through peace agreements with unnamed armed groups, offering leadership positions, land access, and credit to incentivize cessation of violence. However, residents report that security has deteriorated sharply since May 2025, suggesting that previous reconciliation efforts have proven inadequate or have broken down entirely.
A leader of the Boro Democratic Party recently confirmed the growing presence of Gumuz militant groups in Dangur and Guba woredas, underscoring that the violence is not isolated to Bulen but represents part of broader regional destabilization.
International and Humanitarian Concerns
Community leaders warn that without sustained international and national intervention, both humanitarian conditions and economic activity—particularly farming near the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and gold extraction areas—will deteriorate rapidly. The confluence of security collapse, displacement, and economic disruption threatens to create a severe humanitarian emergency requiring urgent attention from national and international authorities.
The pattern of attacks, the ethnic targeting, and the apparent governmental security vacuum raise serious questions about whether systematic persecution is occurring and whether the international community’s capacity to respond is adequate to the scale of the crisis.
Source Attribution: This article synthesizes reporting from Addis Standard and Borkena Media regarding the November 22, 2025 attack in Bulen District, Metekel Zone, Benishangul-Gumuz region.
