Sixteen Killed and 57 Injured in an Attack on Public Vehicles in Gambela, Residents Say

Gunmen opened fire on public vehicles travelling from Gambela town toward the Nuer zone, in Abol district of the Gambela region, killing 16 people and injuring 57, residents told Tikvah Ethiopia.

Residents put the attack on Meskerem 8 — 18 September — and said it happened at around 7:00 by the Ethiopian clock. Six vehicles carrying passengers were fired on, according to accounts given to the outlet by phone.

What the accounts say, and how they differ

One resident told Tikvah that 16 people were killed by the attackers and 57 injured. Another put the number who died at the scene at 12, which is consistent with the higher figure only if some of the injured died later — the accounts do not say.

A resident described the vehicles as carrying ordinary travellers: "The vehicles that were attacked by the gunfire were carrying civilians, including parents with children."

Open

No regional or federal authority has published an account of the attack, a casualty figure, or an attribution. Tikvah Ethiopia's report rests on residents reached by telephone, and the outlet does not name them. The identity of the attackers, the motive, and whether any of the wounded have since died are all unestablished.

Every figure here should be read as a resident's account rather than a confirmed toll.

Sources: Tikvah Ethiopia, 19 September 2026