The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) on Tuesday claimed it has recaptured seven localities in southern Oromia region from Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) rebels.In a Facebook post, the ENDF stated that a joint force formed to destroy OLA has managed to recapture from the rebels seven localities in southern Oromia region bordering Southern region. The statement didn’t specify the other components of the joint force apart from the ENDF.

The ENDF statement further said the joint government forces are currently conducting extermination operations against OLA in West Guji, East Guji and Borena zones of Southern Oromia.

While the two year old northern Ethiopia war seems to have come to an end at least for now, with the November 2022 Pretoria and Nairobi peace agreements, the largely hidden war in Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia has started to get more local and international attention.

In recent months, reports of deadly drone strikes, civilian massacres, urban battles and general humanitarian crisis in large parts of Oromia region have come out despite extensive communication blackout, reporting restriction and the general insecurity in restive areas.

Neither the government nor the OLA rebels have shown indications to end the conflict through a peaceful solution.