Casualties of the Tigray War refers to the civilian and military deaths and injuries in the Tigray War that started in November 2020, in which rape and other sexual violence are also widespread. [1] [2] [3] Precise casualty figures are uncertain. According to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium, as many as 600,000 people had died as a result of war-related violence and famine by late 2022. [4] The scale of the death and destruction led The New York Times to describe it in November 2022 as "one of the world’s bloodiest contemporary conflicts." [5]
True casualties statistics have been difficult to determine, largely due to deliberate information blackouts in the region. [6] Journalists have noted the difficulty they face attempting to report on the war, as the Ethiopian government has taken steps to reduce press access to the Tigray Region, facing the risk of getting killed or imprisoned. [7] [8] It is also been reported that there is an unwillingness from either side to fully confirm precise numbers. [9] [10]
While Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed initially spoke of no civilian casualties in the early days of the war, by February 2021, he described the level of death in Tigray as "hav[ing] caused much distress for me personally.” [11]
Breakdown | Estimated & claimed casualties | Time period | Source |
---|---|---|---|
Civilians | 52,000+ killed | 3 November 2020 – 2 February 2021 | Tigrayan opposition parties [11] |
Military (all sides) | 100,000+ killed | 3 November 2020 – 16 February 2021 | TPLF [12] [13] [14] |
100,000 killed | September 2022 – October 2022 | Kjetil Tronvoll [15] | |
TPLF allied forces | 5,600+ killed, 2,300 wounded | 3 November 2020 – c. September 2021 [lower-alpha 1] | ENDF [9] |
Ethiopian and Eritrean allied forces | 3,073 killed, 4,473 wounded | 3 November 2020 – c. September 2021 [lower-alpha 1] | TPLF [9] |
90,000+ Ethiopian casualties [lower-alpha 2] | September 2022 | Alex de Waal [16] | |
Total deaths | 385,000–600,000 killed | 3 November 2020 – 21 October 2022 | Ghent University [4] |
700,000–800,000 killed | 3 November 2020 – 19 October 2022 | Abdurahman Sayed [17] |
Numerous reports have been made of extrajudicial killings and summary executions (in many cases, targeting civilians) since the war began. [18] [19] [20]
Terminology:
Date | Place | Number | Perpetrators | Sources | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4-10 November 2020 | Shiglil | 7 | Government-allied militias | [21] | |
9-10 November 2020 | Humera | 54 | ENDF, Amhara militia, Fano | [22] [23] [24] | related: EHRC report [25] |
5-19 November 2020 | Dansha | 25 | [25] | Civilians were caught in the crossfire between warring parties | |
9–10 November 2020 | Mai Kadra | 600 [18] or 1100 [20] | Samri kebele youths [26] [18] [20] or Amhara militias [27] [28] [29] | victim ethnicity and perpetrators disputed | |
13-17 November 2020 | Zalambessa | 86 | EDF | [30] | Killed mostly in house-to-house searches after shelling the town |
14–17 November 2020 | Bisober | 27-31 | TPLF & ENDF | [25] [31] [32] | Shelling crossfire and house-to-house search |
17 November 2020 | Shire | 200 | EDF | [33] | Elders say people were "slaughtered like chicken" |
c. 19 November 2020 | Hitsats | 305 | TPLF [34] [35] or EDF [36] [37] [38] [35] | Perpetrators disputed. EEPA claims 300 Eritrean refugees executed by EDF, HRW claims EDF, refugees claim local Tigrayan militia or EDF, Ethiopia claims TPLF; five humanitarian workers killed in battle [39] [40] [41] | |
21 November 2020 | Idaga Hamus | Dozens | EDF | [42] | after capture of town |
c. 21 November 2020 | Adigrat | 12 | EDF | [42] [43] | after capture of town |
27-28 November 2020 | Wukro | 220 | EDF, ENDF | [44] | killing spree accompanying the massive looting of the town |
28–29 November 2020 | Axum | 750 | EDF | initial body counts; [45] [46] in-depth [47] [48] | Daily killings preceded and followed the main massacre. |
30 November 2020 | Dengelat | 80–150 | EDF | [49] [50] | at Maryam Dengelat church |
late November/early December 2020 | Irob | 52 | [51] | 50 men, 2 women | |
1 December 2020 | Mekelle | 27 | ENDF | [52] | |
4–7 December 2020 | Ziban Gedena | 150-300 | EDF | [53] | Also: 150 houses burnt, 90% of livestock killed, harvests burnt and stolen |
13 December 2020 | Kola Tembien | 20 | ENDF | [54] | Soldiers kept terrorising civilians in Tembien in an effort to get the location of the leader of the TPLF. |
c. 23 December 2020 | Hawzen | up to 70 | EDF | [55] | 70 bodies recognised by witness |
5 January 2021 | Gu'itelo | 29 | EDF | [56] | at Medhane-Alem church |
8 January 2021 | Bora | 70–187 | ENDF | [57] [58] : 31 | Killing spree after a battle with TDF |
9 January 2021 | Ari Giyergis | 12 | ENDF | [59] | 12 young deacons taken out of the church and executed |
mid-January 2021 | Mahbere Dego | 50–74 | ENDF (Amharic speaking) | [60] [61] | People were executed and thrown off a cliff, according to geolocated video evidence. |
January 2021 | Irob | 187 | ENDF, EDF | [62] | includes 30 Coptic priests, 50 women, 100 children |
1 February 2021 | Kerebera | 5 | ENDF & EDF | [59] | five priests were killed in the village church |
10 February 2021 | Wukro | 18 | EDF | [63] | killed in street protests |
10 February 2021 | Kola Tembien | 182 | ENDF, EDF | [64] | house-to-house killing; access to bodies permitted on 15 Feb, by which time many were partially eaten by wildlife |
few days before 14 February 2021 | Adwa + Shire | 30 | [63] | killed in street protests | |
15 Feb | Cheli | 180 | EDF | [65] | |
c. 19 February 2021 | Khisret, Gijet | 100+ | ENDF | [66] | |
22 February 2021 | Debrekerbe | 9 | EDF | [67] | |
23 February 2021 | May Weyni | 80 | EDF | [65] | |
1-3 March 2021 | Humera | 250 | Amhara militia, Fano, EDF | [68] | |
11 March 2021 | Enkikumel, near Shire | 100+ | ENDF/EDF | [69] [70] | Reports suggest that ENDF/EDF soldiers went door to door and kidnapped civilians in order to force militias to give up their weapons and surrender. Once the militias surrendered, they and the remaining hostages were all executed. All victims were reportedly young men. |
14 March 2021 | Wukro | 3-5 | ENDF | [71] | retaliation for attacks by TDF |
23 March 2021 | Inda Teka Tesfay between Mekelle and Adigrat | 4 | ENDF | [72] | Médecins Sans Frontières staff observed the execution of at least four men by the ENDF. They were taken off a public bus and executed. |
24 March 2021 | Grizana, near Samre | 11-18 | EDF | [73] [74] | |
30 March - 5 April 2021 | Wukro Maray | ~161 | EDF & ENDF | [75] | As revenge for lost battles |
1 or 3 April 2021 | May Atsmi, Tisha and Haddush Addi, Tahtay Maychew district | ~140 | EDF | [75] | As revenge for lost battles |
5 April 2021 | Debrekerbe in Zana district | 116 | EDF | [67] | |
5 April 2021 | Haruka kebele, Afar Region | 30+ | Somali Regional State special forces | [76] | |
8 April 2021 | Freweyni | 7 | EDF | [75] | |
8 April 2021 | Hawzen | 30+ | EDF | [75] | |
8 April 2021 | Around Wukro Maray, between Shire and Axum | 200+ | ENDF and EDF | [75] | |
12 April 2021 | Adwa, Central Tigray | 3–9 | EDF | [77] [78] | |
12 April 2021 | village near Axum | 11 | presumably EDF | [79] | |
12 April 2021 | Hugumburda, Southern Tigray | 15 | Amhara militias and ENDF | [79] | |
c. 12 April 2021 | Wukro Maray town near Aksum | 300+ | EDF | [79] | |
29 April 2021 | Idaga Hibret | 20 | EDF | [80] | |
30 April 2021 | (Bure, Amhara and Danchu Kebelle) | 21 | unknown | [80] | During the attacks, some civilians had reportedly been burnt alive. |
8 May 2021 | Guh village, Hawzien, Eastern Tigray | 19 | EDF | [81] [82] | |
12 June 2021 | Menji and Guyya villages near the town of Abi-Adi Tembien. | 16 | EDF and ENDF | [83] | Reports indicate that cluster bombs and phosphorus gas was used in the shelling of both villages. |
22 June 2021 | Togoga village | 50-80 | ENDF | [84] | 50-80 civilians were killed in an airstrike on the village's market area. Reports indicate that the ENDF blocked ambulances from attending to the dead and wounded in the village, possibly increasing the casualty toll. |
17-19 July 2021 | Yalo | 20 | TDF or ENDF | [85] | Victims of shelling |
~3 August 2021 | Humera and elsewhere along the Tekezé River | 95 | Amhara militia, Fano, EDF | [86] | The victims had been shot with their hands tied |
5 August 2021 | Galikoma, Afar Region | 107-200 | TDF | [87] [88] [89] | Indiscriminate killing by TDF |
31 August–4 September 2021 | Chenna (near Dabat) | 120-200 | TDF | [90] [91] [92] | Extrajudicial killings; Using civilians as human shields |
9 September 2021 | Kobo | 600 | TDF | [93] [94] [95] [92] | Extrajudicial killings |
30 October 2021 | Kombolcha, Amhara region | 100+ | TDF | [96] [97] [98] | Extrajudicial killings, looting and ransacking WFP and UN trucks and aid essentials, private and public properties. |
8 October 2021 | Mekelle | 3 | ENDF | [99] | Airstrike killing civilians, all children |
21 November 2021 | Prison camp near Mirab Abaya, SNNPR | 83 (+20 missing) | Ethiopian prison guards, ENDF, lynch mob | [100] | Massacre of imprisoned Tigrayan soldiers; according to The Washington Post , the prisoners in question had not engaged in combat against the government. |
6 January 2022 | Mai Aini refugee camp | 3 | Unknown | [101] [102] | Airstrike killing Eritrean refugees, including 2 children |
7 January 2022 | Dedebit | 56-59 | ENDF | [103] [104] [105] [106] [107] | Airstrike hitting a camp for internally displaced people; has been called a war crime by the UN and Human Rights Watch |
10–11 January 2022 | Mai Tsebri and Hiwane | 19 | ENDF | [108] | Drone strike killing civilians |
23 February 2022 | Chenna and Kobo | 24+ | TDF | [109] | Extrajudicial killings |
23 February 2022 | Berhale | 5+ | Unknown; suspected to be the TDF | [110] [111] | Extrajudicial killings of Eritrean refugees |
26 August 2022 | Mekelle | 4 | ENDF | [112] | Airstrike killing civilians, including 2 children |
6–12 September 2022 | Sheraro | 40+ | EDF | [113] [114] | Extrajudicial killings of civilians, including Eritrean refugees |
Shimblina | 46 | ENDF/EDF | [115] | ||
13–14 September 2022 | Mekelle | 10 | Unclear; suspected to be the ENDF | [116] [117] | Airstrike killing civilians, |
13–15 September 2022 | Kobo | 17+ | TDF | [118] | Systemic torture and killings of civilians |
4 October 2022 | Adi Daero, La'ilay Adiyabo | 50-65+ | ENDF | [119] [120] | Airstrike hitting a school sheltering internally displaced people |
24 October 2022 | Egela district, Tigray | 96 | EDF | [121] | Extrajudicial killings of civilians |
26 October 2022 | Adwa | 60+ | ENDF/EDF | [122] | Extrajudicial killings of civilians |
17–25 November 2022 | Eastern Zone, Tigray | 111 | EDF | [123] [124] | Kidnapping, extrajudicial killings of civilians; 241 houses destroyed and overall "widespread looting." |
Mid December 2022 | Central Zone, Tigray | 550+ | EDF and Amhara militias | [125] | Extrajudicial killings and mass rapes. |
As of 2 February 2021 [update] , the highest estimate of civilian deaths in the Tigray War is that given by three of the opposition parties from the 2020 Tigray regional election: National Congress of Great Tigray, Tigray Independence Party, and Salsay Woyane Tigray, which were allocated 15 seats in September 2020, prior to the war. [126] The three parties' statement, published on 2 February 2021, estimated that at least 52,000 civilians had been killed by the ENDF, the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF), Amhara militias, and other forces allied with the ENDF. [127] Hailu Kebede, head of foreign affairs in Salsay Woyane Tigray, said that the three parties' collection method was to try to register data from witnesses in every administrative area of Tigray Region. He stated that "thousands" of names were already recorded. [11] 2022 estimates from Belgium’s Ghent University put the number of war fatalities at 300,000 to 500,000, including 50,000 to 100,000 from fighting, 150,000 to 200,000 due to famine, and 100,000 from lack of medical attention. [4]
An ENDF soldier present at the attack on the Adigrat base of the ENDF Northern Command during the 4 November Northern Command attacks, Bulcha, stated to BBC News that there were 32 ENDF fatalities and 100 TPLF fatalities. [128]
Based on its 14–18 November 2020 visit and a visit starting 10 January 2021 to the Tigray Region, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported a Humera hospital employee's count of the war deaths as 92, including military (ENDF and TPLF) and civilian deaths. [25]
An estimated 760 troops (ENDF and TPLF) were killed during fighting in the Raya region. [129]
The TPLF claimed on 24 November to have killed thousands of ENDF and Eritrean in three fronts: Adwa, Idagahamus and Ray-Mokoni. They also claimed to have killed almost an entire Ethiopian division during fighting at Raya. [130] This division is the 21st mechanised division. [131]
On 7 December 2020 heavy fighting broke out between AMISOM troops and Ethiopian troops in Hiran region, Somalia, when Ethiopian troops tried to disarm Tigrayan troops. In total 21 Tigrayan soldiers and 20 Ethiopian soldiers were killed. [132]
In September 2022, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces launched a massive "joint" offensive against rebels in Tigray. The Ethiopian army reportedly suffered 90,000 casualties in one month. [133]
Zalambessa is a small area on the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia claimed by the two countries that clashed especially on this issue in a war between 1998 and 2000. Eritrea believes that it belongs to its Debub Zone, while Ethiopia believes that it belongs to the Misraqawi Zone of Tigray.
The Tigray war was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. It was a civil war that was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied to the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.
The Transitional Government of Tigray was a caretaker administration that was formally declared by the House of Federation of Ethiopia on 7 November 2020, in the context of a conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in power in the Tigray Regional State and the federal government of Ethiopia. In late November 2020, the administration, headed by Mulu Nega, planned public consultation and participation in choosing new leaders at the regional and zonal level and preservation of woreda and kebele administrations. The Transitional Government left Tigray in late June 2021 during Operation Alula.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) established by the Ethiopian government. The EHRC is charged with promoting human rights and investigating human rights abuses in Ethiopia. The EHRC states organizational independence as one of its values. In October 2021, the EHRC's rating by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions for operation in accordance with the UN Paris Principles was upgraded from grade B to grade A.
This timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
The Al-Fashaga conflict was a conflict between Sudan and Amhara militants from Ethiopia in the disputed border region of al-Fashaga. Since 2008, Ethiopia has dropped all claims to the al-Fashaga as long as Sudan allowed Ethiopian farmers and militants to stay in the area undisturbed. With the outbreak of the Tigray War, Sudanese forces were able to move into the region due to an agreement with Ethiopia just three days before. When Amhara militants left to assist the federal government in the war, Sudanese forces started to drive out Ethiopian farmers, effectively breaking the 2008 compromise. Ethiopia has also accused Sudan of killing Amhara farmers. The Government of Sudan claims the involvement of ENDF and Eritrean troops in the border dispute while the Ethiopian government denies this and regards the conflict as skirmishes between Sudanese forces and ethnic militias from the Amhara region. External media coverage has tended to conflate the Amhara militias with federal soldiers from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF). There is some evidence to suggest that the ENDF has been involved in the conflict, although the capacity in which they are doing so is unclear. It is likely that they have had a peripheral role in the actual fighting.
The Axum massacre was a massacre of about 100–800 civilians that took place in Axum during the Tigray War. The main part of the massacre occurred on the afternoon and evening of 28 November 2020, continuing on 29 November, with smaller numbers of extrajudicial killings taking place earlier, starting from 19 November and during the weeks following the 28–29 November weekend. The massacre was attributed to the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) by Amnesty International, Associated Press, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Adigrat University lecturer Getu Mak.
The Hitsats massacre was a massacre at Hitsats refugee camp on or around 19 November 2020 during the Tigray War. The civilians killed were 300 Eritrean refugees, according to Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), and five humanitarian workers, according to The New York Times, Associated Press, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The spillover of the Tigray War has had an impact on other countries in the surrounding region, particularly in Sudan. This spillover mainly consisted of Ethiopian refugees, more than 50,000 of which have crossed the Ethiopia–Sudan border. There have also been border clashes, mostly between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Ethiopian militias, but the Sudanese government has also claimed ambushes by the Ethiopian National Defense Force have taken place. Most of the fighting centered in Al-Fashaqa, a fertile plain claimed by both Sudan and Ethiopia.
The Hagere Selam massacres were mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Hagere Selam in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 4 and 5 December 2020.
The Adigrat massacres were mass extrajudicial killings by the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) that took place in and near Adigrat in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during late 2020 during the Tigray War. These included 86 civilians killed in Zalambessa around 13 November 2020, 8–15 in Hawzen on 25 November, 80–150 at the Maryam Dengelat church near Idaga Hamus on 30 November.(more than thousand Tigreans massacred by Eritrean troops in Axum on 27 Nov 2020).
Sexual violence in the Tigray War included, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, people forced to rape family members, "sex in exchange for basic commodities", and "increases in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections".
All sides of the Tigray war have been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes since it began in November 2020. In particular, the Ethiopian federal government, the State of Eritrea, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Amhara Special Forces (ASF) have been the subject of numerous reports of both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Events in Hawzen in the Tigray War included five mass extrajudicial killings that took place in Hawzen in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War in November and December 2020 and January and February 2021, looting and destruction Hawzen Primary Hospital by the Eritrean Defence Force (EDF), and the establishment of a rape camp in the hospital by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF).
The Dengelat massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Dengelat in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 30 November 2020. Dengelat is a village that belongs to tabiya Beleso, woreda Sa’isi’e, Eastern zone of Tigray.
The ongoing Ethiopian civil conflict began with the 2018 dissolution of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (ERPDF), an ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition. After the 20-year border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a decade of internal tensions, two years of protests, and a state of emergency, Hailemariam Desalegn resigned on 15 February 2018 as prime minister and EPRDF chairman, and there were hopes of peace under his successor Abiy Ahmed. However, war broke out in the Tigray Region, with resurgent regional and ethnic factional attacks throughout Ethiopia. The civil wars caused substantial human rights violations, war crimes, and extrajudicial killings.
The Humera massacre was an ethnic mass murder event carried out in November 2020 in the town of Humera in the Tigray Region of northwestern Ethiopia, next to the Sudanese border. The massacre took place during an armed conflict between the regional government of Tigray and the federal government of Ethiopia. Refugees attributed the massacre to Amhara militias, including Fano, and the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF).
This Timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
This Timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
During the Tigray War, the town of Wukro was damaged heavily, and was the scene of numerous killings and massacres committed by the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF). It was bombed in mid-November 2020, then shelled by artillery fire a few weeks later, resulting in heavy destruction of property and multiple civilian deaths. There was looting of public and private property, leaving shops empty and the local hospital destroyed. Occupying soldiers engaged in sexual violence, extrajudicial killings, and detention of civilians through at least March 2021. These massacres in Wukro received international attention in media articles.
Independent scholars, based at Ghent University in Belgium, suggest that the death toll in Tigray is now between 385,000 and 600,000.
It's possible that civilians from both ethnicities were targeted in Mai-Kadra, Amnesty now says.