At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured in an attack on civilians in Ethiopia's Afar region, affected in recent weeks by fighting between Tigrayan rebels and government forces, AFP learned Tuesday from an official. doctor.
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The attack occurred on August 5 in the town of Galicoma, Dr Abubeker Mahammud, director of the referral hospital in the town of Dubti, told AFP, where victims were transported. "
Twelve corpses arrived at the hospital,
" he said, also reporting "
nearly fifty
" wounded, of which "
nearly 75% were wounded by gunshot
". According to the doctor, the survivors claim to have been targeted by fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
The conflict in Tigray, which has lasted for nine months, has spread in recent weeks to two neighboring regions, Afar and Amhara.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the federal army to Tigray in November to dismiss the regional authorities, which emerged from the TPLF.
He declared victory at the end of November, after the capture of the regional capital Mekele, but in June pro-TPLF forces recaptured Mekele, then much of Tigray.
As the Ethiopian army withdrew, Tigrayan forces continued their offensive south, into Amhara, and east, into Afar.
200 dead in northern Ethiopia
Officials from the Afar regional government told AFP a death toll of at least 200 in Galicoma, which they said proves the warmongering will of the TPLF and its contempt for the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the north of the country. Ethiopia.
This figure could not be independently verified.
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TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter Monday that government troops "
launched an offensive on August 5 against (his) forces in Galicoma
".
The TPLF "will
work with the relevant bodies to investigate any incident,
" he added.
Ayish Yasin, head of the office for women and children in the regional government, told AFP that "
200 bodies of civilians have been found so far, and more than 48 are still missing
." "
Of the 200 bodies, 107 are children - 48 girls and 59 boys,
" she added. According to Ayish Yasin, who says she visited Galicoma on Monday, these are civilians who sought refuge in a place where food aid was stored, who were killed by artillery fire and immediately buried.
The head of the United Nations agency for children (Unicef) Henrietta Fore said Monday in a statement "
extremely alarmed by the alleged murder of more than 200 people, including more than 100 children, during attacks against displaced families
”in Afar. Officials at the UN agency in New York did not respond to requests for comment, and its Addis Ababa office said it had no further details.
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