At scene of Ethiopia’s new killings, some fight while some flee
CHENNA TEKLEHAYMANOT, Ethiopia — The smell of death lingered for days after the killings. The bodies, more than a dozen in the uniforms of fighters, others in civilian clothing, were still scattered on the muddy ground.
In a nearby churchyard, many more were already buried — at least 59 people killed by forces from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, residents alleged. Six bodies of priests were laid to rest inside the church itself. In their rush to flee to safer areas of the Amhara region, residents said at times they placed multiple bodies in single graves.
At the scene of one of the deadliest battles of Ethiopia’s 10-month Tigray conflict, witness accounts reflected the increasingly blurred line between combatant and civilian after the federal government weeks ago urged all capable citizens to stop the Tigray forces “once and for all.”
When the Tigray fighters captured the village of Chenna Teklehaymanot in the Amhara region on Aug. 31, shortly after a military division defending the area left for unknown reasons, “our (local) defense forces confronted them. Ordinary people here also joined with whatever they could,” said 66-year-old Dagnew Hune. He told The Associated Press he witnessed the ensuing killings and helped to bury the dead.
About 100 people are still missing, Dagnew said on Thursday, walking past what he said were fresh graves in the churchyard covered with tree branches and stones.
Local officials have said as many as 200 people in all may have been killed over several days of fighting, with the worst of it on Sept. 4 in Chenna Teklehaymanot after Ethiopian forces reportedly blocked an attempt by Tigray fighters to seize the city of Gondar.
The Tigray forces have since retreated north, residents said, leaving survivors to check the pockets of dead fighters for clues to their identities. And some questioned why the division of Ethiopian soldiers had left them alone, with only local militia and residents to defend them.