AID to the Church in Need has reported Ethiopia’s federal troops, including soldiers from neighoburing Eritrea, are committing a genocide against the Tigrayan ethnic group in northern Ethiopia.
An anonymous source told ACN that young people and others were targeted in indiscriminate killings and widespread sexual violence as part of a genocide against the Tigrayan people.
“This is clearly genocide against the people of Tigray,” the source said.
“This is not just fighting; they are killing everybody – that is a sign of genocide.
“Many people are escaping from Tigray to Sudan and some of them, especially the young, are escaping because they are being targeted.
“They are deliberately targeting the young.
“Young people are killed, our ladies and women are abused with sexual harassment – that is a sign of genocide itself.”
The source was the latest to claim the attacks constituted genocide, following the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who earlier this month described events including the rape of women and the bombing of churches in the region as genocide.
The source described the spate of sexual abuse which Tigrayan women – including nuns – have been subjected to at the hands of troops from neighbouring Eritrea.
“[Our relatives], our sisters have been raped,” the source said.
“Some of them we had to take to hospital, even nuns have been raped.
“The women and the girls are receiving a different kind of abuse, like you’ve never heard before, things that are very bad.
“Some of the places that can help support us are closed by the soldiers.”
Last November, fighting broke out in Tigray after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent federal troops, with the support of troops from Eritrea, to fight the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which he accused of holding illegitimate elections.
“The situation as you heard is very, very bad here… Nearly 90 percent of people in Tigray are displaced,” the source said.
“This war has brought about a huge humanitarian crisis, manifested by overwhelming numbers of civilian killings, the displacement of millions, the destruction of economic and social foundations, psychological pain and panic…
“In this regard, the most affected are pregnant mothers, children, disabled and elderly members of society.”
The source stressed that the region desperately needed international support.
“The Church is everywhere – it is opening its hand,” the source said.
“The current crisis in Tigray is unparalleled to any humanitarian crises happened in any date that we know in memory.”
ACN’s help for Tigray has included emergency support for nuns and monks as well as mass stipends.
Since 2019 ACN has supported nearly 100 projects in Ethiopia including construction of chapels and monasteries, formation of catechists and support for transport.a
