Oromo Liberation Army

Ethiopia: Who is Jaal Marroo, the military leader in charge of the OLA?

By Jaysim Hanspal

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Posted on November 11, 2021 09:28

A man holds a flag of Oromo Liberation Front during the opening ceremony of Irreecha celebration in Addis Ababa
A man holds a flag of Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) during the opening ceremony of Irreecha celebration, the Oromo People thanksgiving ceremony in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia October 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri

Jaal Marroo, the Ethiopian military leader in charge of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), has warned Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that his rebels are inching closer to victory, as the conflict in Ethiopia continues to escalate.

“What I am sure [of] is that it is going to end very soon. We are preparing to push for another launch, and for another attack. The government is just trying to buy time, and they are trying to instigate [a] civil war in this country, so they are calling for the nation to fight,” Marroo said in an interview with AFP on Sunday 7 November.

Oromo movement splits

Since the creation of the OLF in 1973, the OLA has been the armed wing of the Oromo movement that has sought self-determination for its people in the Oromia region. In 2018, a peace agreement between the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and the Ethiopian government, under a newly elected Abiy Ahmed, effectively put an end to the 45-year Oromo conflict, and allowed for the return of the OLF opposition group. This culminated in a ceremony at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa, with longtime leader Dawud Ibsa and other OLF leaders being formally

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