The attacks on Saturday took place in remote farming villages in Gimbi district, in the country’s Oromia region.

Survivors have blamed the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), but the group has denied the accusations and blames government fighters for the attacks.

Witnesses told the BBC that the gunmen killed villagers indiscriminately, set houses and shops on fire and looted properties.

The survivors are ethnic Amharas who are now sheltered in mosques and relatives’ houses. Among them is a mother of seven whose house was completely destroyed in the attacks.

“We are now crying and enduring hunger and thirst,” she told the BBC.

Another survivor from a different village said he had no food to feed his children.

“We don’t have a single kilogramme of food. We don’t have clothes or shoes. And the government is not helping us,” he told the BBC.

Another said there had been efforts to distribute food aid but added that it had not been enough.

“After having seen all those dead bodies, we do not think about returning to work,” a farmer told the BBC.

The army and local police have been deployed to the area but survivors told the BBC they still felt unsafe and wanted to be resettled elsewhere.

No official death toll has been provided by authorities and it has been difficult to determine the exact figure as attacks occurred in six small villages. But there are fears it could be high.

The federal government described the violence as "terror attacks", while the ruling Prosperity Party vowed to continue what it called a law enforcement operation in the region.