ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 8 (Reuters) – Rebel forces in the Tigray region have killed 120 civilians in two days in a village in the Amhara region of Ethiopia, local officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
The killings in a village 10 km (six miles) from the city of Dabat took place on September 1 and 2, according to Sewnet Wubalem, the local administrator of Dabat, and Chalachew Dagnew, a spokesman for the nearby city. of Gondar.
A spokesman for the Tigraian forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment on what is the first report of the Tigraian forces that has killed a large number of civilians since it seized territory in Amhara. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in the region as Tigrinya forces have advanced.
“So far we have recovered 120 bodies. They were all innocent farmers. But we think the number could be higher. There are people missing,” the local administrator told Sewnet on Reuters by phone.
Chalachew, the spokesman for Gondar City, said he had visited the village’s funeral home and that there were children, women and the elderly among the dead.
He said the killings were during the “short presence” of Tigrinya forces in the area, and that he was now under the control of the Ethiopian federal army.
Ten months ago war broke out between Ethiopian federal troops and forces loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the Tigray region.
Since then, thousands of people have been killed and more than 2 million have fled their homes. Fighting spread in July from the Tigray region to the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, also in the north of the country.
In the midst of the conflict, relations between the Amharic and Tigrayans have deteriorated dramatically.
During the war, regional forces and militiamen from the Amhara region tried to resolve an ancient land dispute between the Amhara and Tigray regions. Read more
Amhara forces have taken control of the western parts of Tigray and expelled tens of thousands of Tigrayans from their homes. Although Tigrayan forces have seized most of the Tigray region, they have not recaptured the heavily militarized and disputed area of western Tigray.
The U.S. government humanitarian agency said last week Tigrayan forces had looted its warehouses in parts of Amhara. Read more
The UN has said a de facto aid blockade in the Tigray region, where some 400,000 people are already starving, has sparked a humanitarian crisis.
The Ethiopian government has repeatedly denied accusations by the UN and Western governments that deliberately impede the provision of life-saving assistance. On Sunday, a convoy of trucks carrying food and other UN aid was allowed to enter Tigray for the first time since Aug. 20.
Addis Ababa editorial report, Maggie Fick editorial staff; Edited by Jon Boyle and Timothy Heritage
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