Leader admits atrocities committed in Tigray war

KAMPALA, Uganda— Ethiopia’s leader on Tuesday said atrocities have been reported in Tigray, his first public acknowledgment of possible war crimes in the country’s northern region where fighting persists as government troops hunt down fugitive leaders.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also admitted, after repeated denials by authorities, that troops from neighboring Eritrea have gone into Tigray, where their presence has inflicted “damages” on the region’s residents.

“Reports indicate that atrocities have been committed in Tigray region,” Abiy said in an address Tuesday before lawmakers in the capital, Addis Ababa.

War is “a nasty thing,” he said. “We know the destruction this war has caused.” He said soldiers who committed rape or other war crimes will be held responsible, and he cited “propaganda of exaggeration” by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the oncedominant party whose leaders challenged Abiy’s legitimacy after the postponement of elections last year.

Commenting on the reported presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia, Abiy said they crossed the border and moved across Tigray, “causing damages to our people … We won’t accept that.” He suggested the Eritrean soldiers are not there with his blessing.

“The argument the Eritrean government presents for this is that it is a national security issue because Ethiopian troops are going after (Tigrayan) forces in other locations, so they want to keep controlling border areas,” he said. “But they have told us they don’t have the willingness to stay as long as we control trenches along the border.”

Abiy spoke as concern continues to grow over the humanitarian situation in the embattled region that is home to 6 million of Ethiopia’s more than 110 million people.

The United States has characterized some abuses in the Tigray war as “ethnic cleansing,” charges dismissed by Ethiopian authorities. It also has urged Eritrean troops, who are fighting on the side of Ethiopian government forces, to withdraw from Tigray.

Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts to make peace with Eritrea, faces pressure to end the conflict in Tigray as well as to institute an international investigation into alleged war crimes.