Christians remain under attack in Ethiopia, where gunmen killed at least 34 Orthodox Christians in Endato on November 5, 2026. This file photo shows funeral services at Abu Aregawi Church for victims of the earlier Mai Kadra massacre. Photos via social mediaGunmen killed at least 34 Orthodox Christians in the Ethiopian village of Endato on November 5, two days after Democrats won control of Congress.Those Democrats include leading foreign-policy lawmakers who last year called President Trump’s threatened intervention over the killing of Christians in Nigeria a “reckless response to distorted facts.”The attack in Ethiopia’s Oromia region was the third mass killing of Orthodox Christians in Arsi in 16 days. Residents and church representatives gathered the bodies of 34 victims at Endato Debre Mitmaq St. Mary Church.The Endato assault began around 11:00 a.m. in Endato Kebele (ward), in Robe Woreda (district) of the East Arsi Zone, according to Borkena. The count of 34 bodies was first reported by Mahibere Kidusan Television, the channel of an Ethiopian Orthodox lay association whose name means “Association of Saints.”Community members warned that the toll could rise. The attackers also burned businesses and private homes. According to TRT Afrika, Ethiopian outlet Meseret Media reported that security personnel trying to restore order were caught in the violence.Other reports put the death toll higher. Residents told QNC News they buried at least 35 people. One witness described the burial of 36 Orthodox Christians and three Muslims at separate sites and said another wounded man died on the way to treatment, bringing that witness’s count to 40.No group has claimed responsibility for the Endato attack, and the residents interviewed could not identify the gunmen.The Endato massacre followed two attacks in October. In an October 26 statement, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said gunmen killed 14 people at Gora Silingo in Merti Woreda on October 20.On October 24, gunmen killed 46 people in the villages of Tereta, Chole and Birbo in Shirka Woreda. The Synod said 20 homes were burned and more than 20 people were seriously wounded.The Synod said the killings and displacement of Orthodox faithful in Arsi had “continued unabated and have been worsening over time.” Using the earlier October figures and the minimum Endato count of 34, TRT Afrika reported that at least 94 Orthodox worshippers had been killed in less than three weeks.On November 3, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a federal body established by parliament, said its investigation of the Shirka attack confirmed 48 deaths, two more than the Synod’s earlier count.The dead included 23 kebele-level security personnel. The commission blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which the government calls OLF-Shane.The OLA is an armed Oromo nationalist group fighting Ethiopia’s federal government. It has denied attacking civilians in the past. In a March statement on earlier Arsi killings, the OLA blamed what it called mercenaries for targeting Orthodox civilians to inflame religious and ethnic tensions.After the October attacks, an Ethiopian official accused the rebels and their allies of trying to provoke ethnic and religious conflict to divert attention from military losses in northern Ethiopia.The Associated Press reported that the official provided no evidence to support the accusation. The Oromia regional government said on November 2 that 73 people had been detained in connection with the October attacks.The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a conflict-monitoring group, told AFP that the October 24 attack appeared religiously motivated and aimed at Orthodox Christians.It cited the reported looting of an Orthodox church. ACLED data show that about one-third of 193 incidents targeting civilians in Arsi since February 2023 involved Orthodox Christian residents.The World Council of Churches has said the victims include both Amhara and Oromo Orthodox Christians. Arsi Zone is predominantly Muslim. Nationally, Orthodox Christians are Ethiopia’s largest religious group, accounting for about 44 percent of the population.The Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), a private rights group separate from the EHRC, reported in July that at least 432 civilians and four local militia members had been killed in targeted attacks across East Arsi since 2021. Residents told Borkena that targeted attacks in Endato have recurred periodically since January 2024.The killings come as control of Congress is set to shift to Democrats, including lawmakers who challenged Trump’s response to the killing of Christians in Nigeria.On November 3, 2025, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Sara Jacobs of California, the top Democrat on its Africa Subcommittee, issued a joint statement condemning Trump’s threat to cut aid and take military action in Nigeria. The two lawmakers said the violence in Nigeria was rooted in land competition rather than religion alone.They also criticized the administration’s decision to designate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern, a designation for countries responsible for particularly severe violations of religious freedom.At a House hearing on Nigeria that month, Jacobs said the violence there has several causes and is not solely driven by the persecution of Christians.After Democrats won control of Congress on November 3, 2026, Nigerian Christian leaders said they had lost their strongest allies in Washington.Trump has emphasized the persecution of Christians. On October 31, 2025, he wrote on Truth Social that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and that thousands of Christians are being killed. In the same post, he announced Nigeria’s redesignation as a Country of Particular Concern.In December 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced visa restrictions on anyone who directs or carries out violations of religious freedom. He called the step “decisive action” against the killing of Christians by radical Islamic terrorists, Fulani ethnic militias and other armed groups in Nigeria and beyond.The White House’s 2026 Counterterrorism Strategy, released in May, states that the United States will “not permit terrorist groups operating on the continent to massacre Christians with impunity,” The National reported. Before meeting Pope Leo XIV that month, Rubio said the United States shares the Catholic Church’s concern about the persecution of Christian minorities and the challenges faced by Christians in Africa.In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 22, 2026, Trump said the UN Human Rights Council had little to say about the persecution of Christians.He added that Christians are being persecuted all over the world. At a Faith & Freedom Coalition policy conference, Trump said U.S. strikes in Nigeria “largely ended the slaughter of great Christian populations.”In Ethiopia, Borkena reported that the House Foreign Affairs Committee issued a statement on October 29 condemning recurring targeted massacres of Orthodox Christians in Arsi and demanding accountability.On November 5, the day of the Endato attack, U.S. Ambassador Ervin Massinga met EHRC Chief Commissioner Berhanu Adello. He expressed U.S. support for the commission’s “detailed, transparent reporting on recent killings in Arsi,” according to the commission’s release.Federal special forces entered Endato after the attack. Residents told QNC News that the troops’ presence had not restored confidence and that some families were considering leaving permanently. Residents have called for a permanent federal security presence.The post 34 More Orthodox Christians Massacred in Ethiopia as Democrats Who Blamed “Land Competition” Win Control of Congress appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.