Tigray conflict: the testimonies of alleged war crimes

Ethiopia’s leader has admitted for the first time that atrocities have been committed in the northern region of Tigray, claiming that soldiers who raped women or committed other war crimes would be held responsible.

The conflict there started last November, with ethnic and political tensions exploding between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.

It’s all a world away from 2019, when Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for ending one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

Now Ahmed’s troops have been accused of working with the Eritrean army, systematically killing hundreds of unarmed civilians in Tigray.

The massacre around Axum last November is well documented. But witnesses have reported violence and executions in other places  like Adrigrat.

We managed to get to Tigray and spoke to some of the people who were able to escape the atrocities. We should warn you: this report does contain highly distressing testimony.