Dozens of people killed in Ethiopian war in IDP camp in Tigray | Conflict Issues
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A plane crash in Ethiopia’s Tigray area killed 56 people and injured 30, including children, in a refugee camp, two aid workers told Reuters, citing government officials and witness accounts.
A spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) faction that has been fighting the central government, Getachew Reda, said in a tweet on Saturday, “Another deadly drone attack. [Prime Minister] Abiy Ahmed in IDP [internally displaced people] Dedebit camp has killed 56 innocent people so far. “
Another dangerous drone attack is #AbiyAhmed in an #IDP camp mu #dedebit has killed 56 innocent people so far. The saddest thing about this case is the people who were victims of their escape #WesternTigray and a genocide campaign for the state. Double risk at its own risk!
– Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) January 8, 2022
The attack on the town of Dedebit, northwest of the area near the border with Eritrea, took place on Friday night, said aid workers, who asked not to be named because they were not allowed to speak to reporters.
Army spokesman Colonel Getnet Adane and government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokesman Billene Seyoum did not respond to a request for comment.
The government has already denied that it wants to fight civilians in a 14-month conflict with Tigrayan rebel forces.
Earlier Friday, the government said released several opposition leaders from prison and said he had begun talks with political opponents to promote peace.
Both paramedics said the death toll from Friday’s plane crash was confirmed by government officials. The paramedics sent photos of Reuters claiming to have taken the injured to the hospital, which included several children.
One of the paramedics, who visited Shire Suhul General Hospital where the injured were brought in for treatment, said the camp is home to many elderly women and children.
“They told me the bombs came in the middle of the night. It was completely dark and they could not escape,” said the paramedic.
One of the aid workers said one of the injured in Friday’s attack, 75-year-old Asefa Gebrehaworia, broke down in tears as he described how his friend had been killed. She was receiving treatment for injuries to her left leg and arm.
Fighting forced Asfe out of his house and now a plane crash destroyed the camp, where even though he was starving, he had a place to stay, he told a staff member. They had arrived at the camp of the refugees from the town of Humera.
Prior to the recent attack, at least 146 people have been killed and 213 injured in a Tigray shooting since October 18, according to a document prepared by aid agencies and shared with Reuters this week.
‘Self-justified accusations’
At a rally on Friday, the government released opposition leaders from several nations. He also included other TPLF leaders.
The TPLF expressed doubts about Abiy’s request for national reconciliation.
“His day-to-day activities of refusing drugs to helpless children and sending straight drones to ordinary people flies in the face of self-justification,” his spokesman Getachew wrote Friday.
TPLF is criticizing government officials for blocking aid in the region, which has led to famine and a lack of basic necessities such as oil and medicine. The government refuses to block access to aid agencies.
The European Union (EU) has said that although the release of opposition leaders was justified, it is worrying about the ongoing conflict in Tigray over recent air raids.
“All parties must take time to resolve the dispute expeditiously and negotiate,” the bloc said in a statement issued by the foreign affairs representative, Josep Borrell.
According to Teklay Gebremichael from a tghat.com website that reports on war crimes, the release of prisoners was Abiy’s “trick” to appease people around the world.
“I think it’s important to see the release of political prisoners in a timely manner,” Gebremichael told Al Jazeera.
“In the past few months, thousands of Tigrayan and Omoros people have been detained in Addis Ababa alone. With about six or seven people released yesterday, [Abiy] he endeavored to create a favorable environment for him to create the illusion that he was interested in dialogue and to resolve the conflict amicably, as he continued to do what he was doing – which is exploding ordinary people and trying. to advance to Tigray. ”
The brutal war has killed thousands of people and is known by the litany cruelty, including murder and rape. It has also left behind a major humanitarian crisis, with millions of people fleeing their homes and in need of help.
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