Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has condemned the brutal attack by a rebel group in the Oromia region with many dead.

Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, in a Facebook post denounced the killing of people based on identity. “Ethiopia’s enemies are vowing either to rule the country or ruin it, and they are doing everything they can to achieve this,” he said. “One of their tactics is to arm civilians and carry out barbaric attacks based on identity. (For me) this is heartbreaking.”

Security forces have been deployed to the area and “have started taking measures,” he said.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission cited an official figure of 32 dead but said preliminary evidence it obtained “indicate the number is very likely to exceed that tally.The attackers targeted ethnic Amharas, it said: “They were dragged from their homes and taken to a school, where they were killed.”

The commission urged the federal government to “shed light on the reasons behind the military’s withdrawal from an area long known to be vulnerable to attacks” and to make sure civilians are protected.

“A brutal terror attack carried out yesterday in West Wollega’s Guliso area has caused the loss of civilian lives,” the Oromia region’s communications office said in a statement. “Women, children, the elderly and the youth were subjected to killings, abductions and injuries.”