The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission accused a group of Tigrayan youth of slaughtering 600 civilians.
A Nov. 9 attack, which was first reported by Amnesty International, took place in southwest Tigray. The Ethiopian government believes that Samri, a Tigrayan youth group, is to blame.
The civilians were reported to be primarily of Amharic descent, making the attack appear ethnically motivated. The commission said the victims were strangled, stabbed, and beaten to death.
“The killings, bodily and mental injury, as well as the destruction that went on throughout the night … indicate the commission of grave human rights violations which may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes,” the commission said.
As telephone and internet communications have been largely shut down in the region by the Ethiopian government, it is nearly impossible for news outlets to verify the claims. Amnesty International, however, has reported similar accounts from civilians of a deadly attack that reportedly took place on Nov. 9. The organization stopped short of naming a culprit.
“When we entered the town, what we saw was devastating,” one civilian told them. “The roads were strewn with dead bodies, especially in the center of the town and on the road that connects the town to Humera.”
The accusations came amid continued fighting between forces in the Ethiopian region of Tigray and the Ethiopian government. The fighting began on Nov. 4, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched airstrikes on the region, accusing Tigrayan forces of attacking federal troops. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front quickly fought back and soon fired rockets into neighboring regions.
Tens of thousands of refugees have since fled into Sudan.
The TPLF was the dominant party of the ruling coalition, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front, for many years. That coalition appointed Abiy as prime minister in 2018. Shortly thereafter, Abiy disbanded the coalition and created the Prosperity Party. The TPLF strongly opposed its formation and did not join.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that the TPLF was the ruling party of Ethiopia until Abiy became prime minister in 2018. The TPLF was instead a political party within the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
