Some fight, some flee in bitter Ethiopian war
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 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. 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 said he witnessed the ensuing killings and helped to bury the dead.
About 100 people are still missing, Dagnew said on Thursday.
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. And some questioned why the division of Ethiopian soldiers had left them alone, with only local militia and residents to defend them.
Since retaking much of their embattled home region from Ethiopian forces in June, the Tigray fighters have brought the war into the country’s neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where Chenna Teklehaymanot is located. The
Tigray forces say they are pressuring Ethiopia’s government to lift a blockade on Tigray that has left millions of people without telecommunications, electricity, banking services and almost all humanitarian aid.
Now a massive humanitarian crisis that already affects millions inside Tigray is spreading as hundreds of thousands of people flee the Tigray fighters, fearing their retaliatory attacks. The Tigray forces have said they are not attacking civilians.
Spokesman for the Tigray forces Getachew Reda, on Friday called allegations that Tigray fighters had targeted civilians in the village “absolutely, absolutely false.” He accused Amhara regional special forces of forcing civilians to fight, and “of course they will be caught in the crossfire.”
He also denied allegations that the Tigray forces were retreating.
Ethiopia’s widening war, with atrocities reported on all sides, has led to urgent calls by the United Nations, United States and others for an immediate cease-fire and a path to dialogue. But there is little peace in sight.
What began as a political dispute has killed thousands since November.