Armed men abducted 44 passengers in an attack targeting a passenger- bus near Alidoro town, 144 kilometers north of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, APA can report on Wednesday.
Residents living in the town told APA that militants of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an ethnic Oromo Nationalist militant group operating extensively across the region, carried out the attack and took 44 passengers hostage into the nearby forest.
The incident raised concern that such attacks have become more frequent as the militants have been operating along the route, kidnapping passengers at different times.
Yeshoferoch Andebet, a social media based advocacy for long distance intra-Ethiopia drivers, said the gunmen fired at the tires and the windshield of the bus.
According to information reaching APA, the armed men attacked and wounded at least four people including the driver.
There has been recurring attacks targeting passenger buses in the same locality of the Oromia region of Ethiopia.
Gunmen usually demand for hefty ransoms.
The ruling prosperity party and Oromia regional state has been linking the incident to OLA operating across the region.
However, the group denies ransom kidnappings and attacking civilians in the region.
The security crisis in the country, particularly in the country’s Amhara and Oromia regions, is one of the reasons the ruling party faced a legitimacy crisis.
The government is yet to remark on the latest incident.
MG/as/APA