Indafelasi killing spree

The Indafelasi killing spree was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Indafelasi (Tigrinya: እንዳ ፈላሲ) in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 6 April 2021.[1] The killing spree occurred throughout the woreda Indafelasi, Central zone of Tigray.

Indafelasi killing spree
Part of Tigray War
Indafelasi
Indafelasi
Location of Indafelasi in Tigray (Ethiopia)
LocationIndafelasi (Tigrinya: እንዳ ፈላሲ), Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Date6 April 2021
TargetTigrayans
Attack type
Deaths125 civilians
Perpetrators Eritrean Defence Forces

Massacre

The Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) killed 125 civilians in the Indafelasi district (Central Tigray) on 6 April 2021.[1][2][3]

…official stamp on a letter dated June 16, 2021, from district leader Berhe Desta Gebremariam in the cut-off district of Mai Kinetal, Tigray, Ethiopia, to the regional capital, Mekele. The document contained data that lay out the devastation in one of the most inaccessible areas of Ethiopia’s conflict-torn Tigray region, line by line: At least 440 people have died, 125 from starvation, and at least 558 have been victims of sexual violence
— Cara Anna, journalist, Associated Press, [2]

Typical massacres committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers in the Tigray war are (1) revenge when they lose a battle; (2) to terrorise and extract information about whereabouts of TPLF leaders; (3) murder of suspected family members of TDF fighters; and (4) terrorising the Tigray society as a whole such as in case of mass killings in churches.[4]

Perpetrators

Witnesses and district administrator reported the perpetrators of this massacre as being Eritrean soldiers.[2][3]

Victims

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation” mentions 125 victims of this massacre.[1]

Reactions

The district administrator, appointed by the Transitional Government of Tigray loyal to Abiy Ahmed, wrote a detailed letter, dated 16 June 2021, detailing the massacres, rape, looting and starvation in Indafelasi district.[2]

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation”,[1] that documented this massacre received international media attention, particularly regarding its Annex A, that lists massacres in the Tigray War.[4][5][6][7]

After months of denial by the Ethiopian authorities that massacres occurred in Tigray, a joint investigation by OHCHR and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission was announced in March 2021.[8]

While the Ethiopian government promised that Eritrean troops will be pulled out from Tigray, the Eritrean government denies any participation in warfare in Tigray, let alone in massacres.[9]

See also

References
  1. Annys, S., Vanden Bempt, T., Negash, E., De Sloover, L., Nyssen, J., 2021. Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation
  2. Associated Press, 30 June 2021: Trapped in Ethiopia’s Tigray, people ‘falling like leaves’
  3. Tghat, 30 June 2021: Damage Assessment from Mai Kinetal Wereda
  4. The World radio (2 April 2021): Counting the victims in Tigray
  5. EuroNews, 2 April 2021 – See film embedded in the news item: G7 'seriously concerned' about human rights violations in Ethiopia's Tigray region
  6. CBC, 2 April 2021: As It Happens: The Friday Edition (from 28:00 to 35:30) Tigray, Ethiopia Massacre
  7. The Guardian, 2 April 2021: Ethiopia: 1,900 people killed in massacres in Tigray identified
  8. France24, 18 March 2021: UN rights chief agrees to joint Tigray probe
  9. DW, 19 March 2021: Fact check: Are other nations involved in the war in Tigray?
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