Addis Abeba — Bekele Kacha, administrator of Saden Sodo district in South West Shoa zone of the Oromia region has been gunned down by an unidentified armed group on 20 June, according to the district's communication office.

Circumstances of the killing remain unknown but the administrator of the West Shoa zone Taye Gudissa said in a statement that "he was killed in a brutal act of an enemy". According to Taye, the deceased was "a selfless leader who was committed to advance the interest of his people".

This is the second time a high profile local official was killed in less than two weeks in central Oromia. On 08 June, deputy administrator of the Ada Barga district of West Shoa zone Abdissa Keneni was killed by armed men near his house in Bekate town.

Earlier in March, Desalegn Bokonja, head of the ruling Prosperity Party (PP) office in East Wollega Zone in Western Oromia, was shot dead in Nekemte city "at the door of his residence" in what the communication office said was "an attack by unknown" assailants.

Several other senior government officials have been killed in Oromia region over the past years in the context of ongoing war between the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) and government forces for five years.

The first round of talks attempting to resolve the war peacefully which were described by both parties as constructive, ended without reaching an agreement on sticking issues. AS