International Human Rights Organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW), on Friday said Eritrean forces shot dead hundreds of children and civilians in a November massacre in Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region, reported Al Jazeera.
The HRW group called out the United Nations to urgently establish an independent inquiry into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity in the region.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military attack against Tigray’s then-ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), in early November, claiming they came in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps.
On November 19, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces bombarded Axum, killing and injuring hundreds of civilians. The forces continued to shot civilians and pillaged and destroyed property, including healthcare facilities, for over a week after taking control of the town.
After Tigray militia and Axum residents attacked Eritrean forces on November 28, the Eritrean forces, in retaliation, shot and executed several hundred people over a 24-hour period.
“Eritrean troops committed heinous killings in Axum with wanton disregard for civilian lives,” said Laetitia Bader, Horn of Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Ethiopian and Eritrean officials can no longer hide behind a curtain of denial, but should allow space for justice and redress, not add to the layers of trauma that survivors already face.”
HRW’s report published on Friday was the second major analysis on abuses in Axum in the past week. In the report, the human rights watchdog didn’t give an exact death toll but estimated that more than 200 civilians were most likely put to death on November 28-29 alone.
An Amnesty International investigation into the same events detailed how Eritrean troops brutally killed hundreds of civilians.
On Thursday, the United Nations leaders also accused the Eritrean forces of possible crimes against humanity and urged them to pull out of the war-hit country.
