Tigray militants have killed many civilians: Ethiopian independence organization | Conflict Issues

The Human Rights Commission of Ethiopia reports that terrorists killed at least 184 people in the Amhara region in July and August.

Tigrayan militants have killed more than 150 people in the Amhara region on suspicion of informing or providing assistance to federal agencies, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said in a statement.

The study, published on Saturday, which covers 128 interviews, looks at parts of the Amhara that clashed heavily in July and August between fighters in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian troops as the country’s brutal war broke out. second year.

At least 184 civilians have died as a result of bloodshed, the EHRC said, condemning TPLF fighters for “deliberately killing (killing) many civilians in the towns and villages they seized.”

Civilians were shot and killed for their support of the government or the protection of wounded soldiers, the commission said.

“TPLF soldiers have shot and killed people suffering from mental illness in the towns under their supervision as presiding officers,” it added.

Earlier in the day, local youths killed Tigray refugees fleeing the war, accusing them of being TPLF spies, the agency said.

“In addition, both sides engaged in indiscriminate shootings that did not target the purpose of the war, killing civilians, injuring and destroying civilian property.”

EHRC Commissioner-General Daniel Bekele said “the abuses and harassment perpetrated by all parties in the South Gondar and North Wollo Zones in the Amhara region underscores the need to urgently stop the suffering that is affecting the common people”.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to Tigray last November to overthrow the TPLF, which he said was the result of terrorist attacks on military camps.

Although the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2019 promised a quick victory, by the end of June the TPLF recaptured a large number of Tigray before growing up in Amhara and Afar.

As humanitarian crises escalate, reports of homicides, atrocities and starvation have been raised, human rights groups have warned.

Human Rights Watch said Wednesday that the “proper rotation” of the Abiy government in Tigray – where Ethiopian and Eritrean troops are accused of mass rape – is preventing survivors from accessing medical care and other complex services.

The same day, Amnesty International reported that Tigrayan militants had raped, abducted, and beaten women in an attack on a town in Amhara.

The TPLF criticized Amnesty’s “wrong tactics” but said it would conduct its own investigation, adding: “If our investigation finds that Tigrayan fighters did indeed commit such crimes, the Tigray government will prosecute the perpetrators.”

A joint study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and the EHRC published last week found evidence of “gross violence” on both sides, arguing that some violations could be criminal.

The TPLF, which did not respond to Saturday’s report, criticized the findings as biased against the EHRC’s involvement, calling for an independent inquiry into human rights abuses.

Abiy government has committed itself to responding to violence.