Mai Kadra massacre | |
---|---|
Part of 2020 Tigray conflict | |
Location of Mai Kadra in Ethiopia | |
Location | Mai Kadra, Tigray Region, Ethiopia |
Date | 9 November 2020 |
Target | Day laborers |
Attack type | |
Deaths | Up to 500 laborers |
Perpetrators | Unclear |
The Mai Kadra massacre was a series of ethnic cleansing and mass killings carried out in the town of Mai Kadra, in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border, on the night of 9 November 2020 or early in the morning on 10 November 2020.[1]
The killings took place amidst an armed conflict between the regional govenment and the federal government, as troops of the Ethiopian National Defense Force were advancing towards the town. The victims have been described as "civilians, who appear to have been day labourers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive," particularly those hailing from outside the area.[2] The total death toll remains unclear, but according to Amnesty International, "likely hundreds" were killed.[3] Two videos, which were analyzed by Amnesty International to prove that the massacre had taken place, show dozens of corpses with injuries caused by bladed weapons, like machetes. According to local media, up to 500 people may have been killed. Most of the victims were Tigrean.[2]
The perpetrators still remained unknown.[2] Refugees in neighboring Sudan however placed blame on indeterminate persons from the neighboring Amhara Region.[4]
Background
Throughout 2019 and 2020, tensions progressively increased between the Ethiopian federal government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and the local government of the Tigray Region, led by Chief Administrator Debretsion Gebremichael, over allegations that members of the ruling Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which was the dominant force in Ethiopian politics after the fall of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, were being unfairly targeted for prosecution by the central government, and misgivings of the Eritrea–Ethiopia peace deal, which the TPLF viewed as endangering its security.
Federal-state relations deteriorated considerably after the region held local elections in September 2020, which the TPLF claimed to have won in a landslide, despite the Ethiopian govenment having postponed elections until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] After the elections, both sets of governments proclaimed the other illegitmate and illegal; the federal government maintaining that the regional elections had been extra-constitutional and neither free nor fair, and the regional government insisting that the federal government's mandate had expired, rendering its authority null and void.[5]
In November 2020, open conflict broke out between the two governments when regional security forces allegedly attacked the headquarters of the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) in Mekelle.[2] The federal government quickly launched an offensive to restore its authority, in concert with regional security forces from the Amhara and Afar Regions. One of its first priorities was to secure the region's border with Sudan and the border town of Humera, thereby forestalling any possibility of the TPLF forces opening a cross-border supply route.[6] Mai Kadra (or Mai Cadera, May Cadera, etc.) is a medium-sized market town on the Gonder-Humera road, in Kafta Humera woreda of the Mi'irabawi (Western) Zone of the Tigray Region.
On November 13, 2020, a senior TPLF official went on the their network Dimtsi Weyane claiming responsibility for having started the hostilities by an "anticipatory surprise/blitzkrieg attack" on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces.[7]
Killings
Some refugees that had fled to Sudan that claimed to be present at the killings descibed a different series of events. Araqi Naqashi, a 48-year-old refugee stated that he "saw the bodies of people who had been slain thrown in the streets. Others who were injured were dragged with a rope tied to a rickshaw", further claiming that "the Tigrayans are being killed and chased down. Anything is looted, and our area was attacked with tanks".[4] Another refugee that fled from Mai Kadra who was also interviewed by Reuters said that she fled after people from the Amhara region attacked them and that they "killed anyone who said they were Tigrayan. They stole our money, our cattle, and our crops from our homes and we ran with just the clothing on our backs" [4]
Local Sudanese in the vicinity claimed to have heard the airstrikes, and witnesses said that some of the refugees were wounded and were getting medical help at a medical facility. One said that bombings had "demolished buildings and killed people" and that he "escaped, part running on foot and part in a car, afraid [that] civilians are being killed".[4]
Amnesty International has not yet been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings, but has spoken to witnesses who said forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) were responsible for the mass killings, apparently after they suffered defeat from the federal EDF forces.
Three people told Amnesty International that survivors of the massacre told them that they were attacked by members of Tigray Special Police Force and other TPLF members.[8]
Aftermath
A witness said that of those who fled, many were women and children. The U.N. refugee agency said that the fighting in Ethiopia prompted more than 11,000 people to flee into Sudan so far.[3] Amnesty International Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena, urged the government to restore all communications to Tigray as an act of accountability and transparency for its military operations in the region and allow unfettered access to humanitarian organizations and human rights monitors. TPLF was also urged to make clear to their commanders that deliberate attacks on civilians are prohibited.[2]
However Tigray's leader Debretsion Gebremichael denied responsibility in a statement to Reuters, saying that "This is unbelievable ... this should be investigated,” and accused Abiy of “creating facts on [the] ground”.[3] A group of investigators sent by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission are expected to visit Mai Kadra, to investigate the mass killings which took place. [9]
References
- ^ "Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: 'Civilians massacred', says Amnesty International". BBC World News.
- ^ a b c d e "Ethiopia: Investigation reveals evidence that scores of civilians were killed in massacre in Tigray state". Amnesty International. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Guilia, Parravicini (12 November 2020). "Ethiopia claims big advance in Tigray, Amnesty reports mass killing". Reuters. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ a b c d Khalid Abdelaziz, El Tayeb Siddig (13 November 2020). "Ethiopians fleeing to Sudan describe air strikes and machete killings in Tigray". Reuters. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ a b Gebremedhin, Desta (5 November 2020). "Tigray crisis: Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia". BBC World News. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ Atit, Michael (9 November 2020). "Sudan Closes Ethiopia Border Until Tigray Tensions Subside". Voice of America. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
- ^ https://twitter.com/i/status/1327665320157442048
- ^ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/11/ethiopia-investigation-reveals-evidence-that-scores-of-civilians-were-killed-in-massacre-in-tigray-state/
- ^ "Two missiles target Ethiopian airports as Tigray conflict widens".
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