Residents told the BBC that 19 people were killed and hundreds of houses were burned and looted in an attack allegedly carried out by "Oromia Special Forces" in Gida Ayana district of the East Wollega zone of the Oromia regional state.

Five eyewitnesses and families of the deceased who spoke to the BBC said that several civilians, including a monk, were stabbed and shot to death in the small town of Tega Jigi (Shasho Ber), which is said to be inhabited by Amhara people, on December 23, 2025.

Residents said that two days before the attack, the defense forces, which had been in the area for months, left and the government security force, the "Oromia Special Forces (Special Commandos), entered.

Residents who said that gunfire began in the area on December 14; one resident said that they did not know who was behind the gunfire; another resident told the BBC that a fight broke out between the Oromia Special Forces and the militants who entered the forest and called themselves "Fano" and said that they would not surrender their weapons.

They said that they were worried before the conflict broke out and that local residents fled to neighboring kebeles after it broke out; the fighting continued until noon.

The BBC has attempted to contact the head of the Oromia Regional State Communications Bureau and the East Wollega Zone Police Commander regarding the attack, but has not received a response.