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At scene of Ethiopia's new killings, some fight, some flee
At the scene of one of the deadliest battles of Ethiopia’s 10-month Tigray conflict, witness accounts reflect the increasingly blurred line between combatant and civilian after the federal government urged all capable citizens to stop the Tigray forces “once and for all.”.
International
CHENNA TEKLEHAYMANOT – The smell of death lingered for days after the killings. The bodies, more than a dozen in the uniforms of fighters, others in civilian clothing, were still scattered on the muddy ground.
In a nearby churchyard, many more were already buried — at least 59 people killed by forces from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, residents alleged. Six bodies of priests were laid to rest inside the church itself. In their rush to flee to safer areas of the Amhara region, residents said at times they placed multiple bodies in single graves.
At the scene of one of the deadliest battles of Ethiopia’s 10-month Tigray conflict, witness accounts reflected the increasingly blurred line between combatant and civilian after the federal government weeks ago urged all capable citizens to stop the Tigray forces “once and for all.”
When the Tigray fighters captured the village of Chenna Teklehaymanot in the Amhara region on Aug. 31, shortly after a military division defending the area left for unknown reasons, “our (local) defense forces confronted them. Ordinary people here also joined with whatever they could,” said 66-year-old Dagnew Hune. He told The Associated Press he witnessed the ensuing killings and helped to bury the dead.