Ethiopian official says suspected rebels assassinate journalist

ADDIS ABABA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Suspected Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebels have assassinated a journalist in Qelem-Wollega zone of Oromia regional state, an Ethiopian official said on Monday.

Ahmed Yassin, of the peace-keeping division at Qelem-Wollega Police Department, said Sisay Fida, a journalist who was working for Oromia Broadcasting Network, was shot dead near his home by two suspected OLA gunmen Sunday evening, the Ethiopia News Agency reported.

Police are pursuing the suspected killers and expect to make an investigation breakthrough soon, Yassin said.

OLA is a breakaway faction of ex-rebel group Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). OLF is an opposition political party claiming to fight for the rights of ethnic Oromos who make up about 35 percent of Ethiopia's population of over 110 million.

The OLF was designated as a terrorist group by the Ethiopian parliament in 2011.

It was removed from the terror list in July 2018 to help facilitate negotiations and foster reconciliation.

However, a breakaway faction of the OLF, with an estimated 3,000 fighters, operates in the western and southern parts of Oromia regional state, the principal homeland of ethnic Oromos.

In January, unidentified gunmen shot dead Dawit Kebede, reporter for Tigray TV, in Mekelle, capital city of Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state.