As government offensive pushes forward, scars of war dot Ethiopia's Amhara region

Record ID: 1650557

  • Title: As government offensive pushes forward, scars of war dot Ethiopia's Amhara region
  • Date: 10th December 2021
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF TOMBSTONE OF A MAN (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) A PRIEST AT THE HOLY TRINITY CHURCH IN NEFAS MEWCHA, MERIGETA TSEGAW DERRESE, SAYING: "They are all civilians. Some of them were killed while going home after visiting the church. Some of them were killed just after leaving the church's compound. Some of them were killed during the exchange of gunfire as the enemy was shooting from people's homes. The rest are people who were deaf or (were) physically disabled people who could not move." SOUTH GONDAR DISTRICT, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA (DECEMBER 10, 2021) (REUTERS) PRIEST OF CHECHEHO CHURCH, ALEBEL ASFAW, SURVEYING THE DAMAGE INSIDE OF THE CHURCH VARIOUS OF DAMAGED CHURCH CEILING VIEW OF CHURCH INTERIOR THROUGH WINDOW BULLET HOLES IN CHURCH DOORS VARIOUS OF BULLET HOLES PRIEST BLESSING A MAN OUTSIDE THE CHURCH (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) PRIEST OF CHECHEHO CHURCH, ALEBEL ASFAW, SAYING: "Right after it was hit, we brought experts to see what the weapon was, and they told us it was a mortar. I was sitting outside when it was hit and I cried oh Holy Saviour, 'how come they beat you?' I looked up to see and I was immediately suffocated by the smoke. Fourteen windows are shattered. There are three doors and they are all damaged." VARIOUS PEOPLE INCLUDING AMHARA SPECIAL FORCES OFFICER PRAYING AT THE CHURCH ETHIOPIAN SOLDIERS ON SIDE OF THE ROAD STREETS OF NEFAS MEWCHA TOWN SIGN READING, (Amharic) "Mayor's Office." HEAD OF NEFAS MEWCHA TOWN MAYOR'S OFFICE, BELETE ADMASSIE, WALKING TO HIS OFFICE ADMASSIE SITTING AT HIS DESK ADMASSIE WRITING ADMASSIE LOOKING THROUGH HIS NOTEBOOK (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) HEAD OF NEFAS MEWCHA TOWN MAYOR'S OFFICE, BELETE ADMASSIE, SAYING: "They invaded starting at 4 in the morning. In the morning when people started going about their daily life, they started firing heavy machine guns. 28 people lost their lives in middle of this. 27 people sustained heavy, medium and light injuries." BAHIR DAR, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA, (DECEMBER 9, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF THE AMHARA COMMUNICATION AFFAIRS OFFICE VARIOUS OF SPOKESMAN FOR THE AMHARA REGION, GIZACHEW MULUNEH SPEAKING ON PHONE, IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (Amharic) SPOKESMAN FOR THE AMHARA REGION, GIZACHEW MULUNEH, SAYING: "Now our priority is to liberate ourselves. Next, it could be anywhere. This bandit group could go to Tigray or the border or any desert, we will not stop our offensive until we have eliminated them. Eliminate in essence, until they have become no more threat to our existence. It is not about a place anymore" UNKNOWN LOCATION, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA, (DECEMBER 7, 2021) (REUTERS) MILITARY TRUCK DRIVING PAST A DESTROYED TANK VARIOUS OF A BOY SITTING ON THE BARREL OF TANK TRUCK DRIVING PAST THE TANK RUSTING EQUIPMENT VARIOUS OF VIEWS OF HILLS AND MOUNTAINS IN THE DISTANCE
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2021 16:22
  • Keywords: Amhara Ethiopia Tigray conflict
  • Location: UNKNOWN LOCATION/ NEFAS MEWCHA/ SOUTH GONDAR DISTRICT/ BAHIR DAR, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA
  • City: UNKNOWN LOCATION/ NEFAS MEWCHA/ SOUTH GONDAR DISTRICT/ BAHIR DAR, AMHARA, ETHIOPIA
  • Country: Ethiopia
  • Topics: Africa,Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA003F7GGTAF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: In a roadside village shattered by one of Africa's bloodiest current conflicts, a donkey and its turbaned master tiptoe past an unexploded shell rusting by the blasted remnants of a tank, its turret and tracks tossed sideways.
    Ethiopian soldiers said the tank's crew had been fighting for Tigray, the rebellious northern region battling the central government. In June, Tigrayan fighters invaded the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara, pushing so far south that by the end of November they were fighting near a town just 190 kilometres (118 miles) from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
    Now the tables have turned.
    A government offensive has driven Tigrayan forces back on multiple fronts. Locals are returning to homes scarred not just by intensive fighting but by what they say are atrocities committed by Tigrayan fighters - a charge the rebels deny.
    Just outside the mountainous Amhara town of Gashena, around 150km east of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, a Reuters reporting team saw evidence of a fierce battle fought within the last week.
    Abandoned zig-zag trenches sliced the red-orange sandy soil parallel to the road. The shattered tank lay on the edge of a village nestling in a grove of eucalyptus trees decapitated by heavy gunfire or air-bursting shells.
    Tigrayan forces summarily executed dozens of civilians in two towns they controlled in Amhara between Aug. 31 and Sept. 9, a report released on Friday by New York-based Human Rights Watch said. Reuters was unable to reach Tigrayan forces for comment. Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that controls most of Tigray, has previously denied targeting civilians in areas under its control.
    The TPLF has said that Tigrayan forces entered Amhara to break a de facto government aid blockade on Tigray and free western Tigray - a contested area - from Amhara control. The government has denied United Nations accusations it was blocking food aid to the famine-hit region. A joint investigation released last month by the United Nations and Bekele's commission concluded that all sides had committed violations that may amount to war crimes.
    The new offensive against Tigrayan forces came after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went to lead military operations himself, addressing citizens wearing a combat uniform and surrounded by soldiers. It recaptured many towns this month, the prime minister's office said, pushing Tigrayan forces back more than 180 km.
    Several government soldiers near Gashena told Reuters they had been reinforced by a huge influx of new troops, and airstrikes and drones had hit Tigrayan positions. Ethiopia has bought drones from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
    A Reuters team spotted four destroyed tanks and two blown-up armored anti-aircraft trucks.
    Neither side has released casualty figures, but soldiers reported heavy losses on both sides. Reuters saw six ambulances speeding from Gashena towards the rear lines in five hours.
    "Now our priority is to liberate ourselves," Gizachew Muleneh, spokesman for the Amhara region, told Reuters. Tigray's forces would be pursued, he said. "We will not stop our offensive until we have eliminated them."
    (Production: Kumerra Gemechu, Nazanine Moshiri)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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