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Tens, possibly hundreds, of civilians have reportedly been massacred with knives and machetes in Tigray, the restless region of northern Ethiopia, where forces loyal to the local administration and the national army are involved in fierce fighting.
Amnesty International says that according to witnesses, the victims were stabbed and hacked to death in the city of Mai Kadra four days ago.
The campaign group said it had not been able to independently confirm who was responsible for the killings, but witnesses reported that forces loyal to the Tigray Popular Liberation Front (TPLF), which is in power in the province, may having committed the murders after suffering defeat by the federal forces of the FED.
“We have confirmed the massacre of a large number of civilians, who appear to have been day laborers who did not participate in any way in the ongoing military offensive. This is a terrible tragedy, the true scope of which only time will tell as communications in Tigray remain closed, ”said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The Guardian has seen photographic evidence, which appears to corroborate the reports, showing dozens of bodies lying on rope beds and flatbed trucks.
The reports will fuel an increasingly bitter conflict, which may fuel ethnic and other tensions in Ethiopia, the second most populous country in Africa.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched military operations in Tigray after he accused local authorities of attacking a military camp in the region and attempting to loot military assets. The TPLF denies the attack and has accused the prime minister of fabricating history to justify the deployment of the offensive.
Since then, airstrikes and ground fighting between government forces and the TPLF have killed hundreds, sending refugees to Sudan and raising international concern about the will of Abiy, Africa’s youngest leader, who won a Nobel Prize from peace last year, from risking a long civil war.
In a letter to The Guardian, 39 UK-based academics specializing in Ethiopia expressed concern about the ongoing military confrontation and called on London “to break its silence and use all diplomatic means at its disposal in support of a immediate end of hostilities and find a way to resolve the underlying conflict. “
“For the past two years, we have been observing [Ethiopia] oscillate between hopeful optimism and deadly conflict, and these latest events represent a serious escalation of violence that threatens to drag Ethiopia into a civil war with devastating consequences for its people, its economy and regional stability, ”the letter reads. .
Amnesty cited the testimony of three people who said that survivors of the massacre had told them that the attackers were members of the Tigray Special Police Force and other members of the TPLF who entered the city after a clash with national forces and the militia from the neighboring province of Amhara.
“Amnesty International has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible … but has spoken with witnesses who said that forces loyal to the TPLF were responsible for the mass killings, apparently after they suffered the defeat of federal EDF forces.” , said.
Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael, who chairs the TPLF, denied that his forces were involved in the killings.
“This is unbelievable … this should be investigated,” Debretsion said in a text message to Reuters, accusing Abiy of “creating facts about [the] ground”.
There was no immediate response to the Ethiopian government’s Amnesty report.
With communications down and media prohibited, independent verification of such incidents and the status of the conflict is extremely difficult.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for decades before Abiy came to power in 2018. It won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for ending a war with neighboring Eritrea.
The sweeping political reforms that the 44-year-old former soldier pushed for garnered high praise, but they have allowed old ethnic and other grievances to surface.
Tigrayan leaders have complained of being unfairly targeted in corruption trials, removed from the highest positions and blamed for the country’s problems.
The postponement of national elections due to the Covid-19 pandemic compounded tensions and when parliamentarians in Addis Ababa, the capital, voted to extend the terms of officials, Tigray leaders went ahead with regional elections in September that the Abiy government deemed them illegal.
Both sides have access to heavy weapons, armor and sizable stocks of ammunition, and observers have warned that a protracted conflict is possible.
More than 11,000 Ethiopian refugees have crossed into Sudan since the fighting began, and humanitarian organizations say the situation in Tigray is deteriorating. Even before the conflict, 600,000 people were dependent on food aid.
About 7,000 of those who cross have reached Hamdayat in Sudan’s Kassala state, and another 4,000 have reached Luqdi in al-Qadarif state. Most of them are Tigrayan and about 45% are women, the UN said.
There are few signs of any movement to end the conflict.
On Friday, Ethiopia’s parliament appointed a new head of the Tigray region, a day after the Ethiopian parliament stripped 39 members of the TPLF, including Gebremichael, of procedural immunity.
Ethiopia has long been considered the cornerstone of America’s strategic interests in the Horn of Africa region.
On Thursday, Idaho Republican Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, warned that the risk of the conflict in Ethiopia escalating into a civil war was “a real, present, and immediate danger to regional stability and the interests of US national security and, most importantly, the safety and well-being of the Ethiopian people and Ethiopia’s democratic transition.
“The United States and the international community must continue their direct commitment to ensure that all parties commit to an immediate ceasefire, protecting all civilians, providing expedited humanitarian access, restoring Internet and telephone access, and seeking a peaceful solution through dialogue, “Risch said.
