The town of Shire was notable in the Tigray War for its role as a major centre of internally displaced people, [1] [2] for the shelling of civilians, [3] for being looted, [4] and for massacres in November 2020 and February 2021. [1]
The town of Shire was notable in the Tigray War for its role as a major centre of internally displaced people, [1] [2] for the shelling of civilians, [3] for being looted, [4] and for massacres in November 2020 and February 2021. [1]
Shire became a major centre for internally displaced people (IDPs) and humanitarian aid distribution during the Tigray War. Soon after the Northern Command attacks, when armed fighting started in the federal–Tigrayan conflict, thousands of people fleeing from the fighting to the west arrived in Shire. In December 2020, when Shire was controlled by the ENDF, Shire residents accepting wheat as food aid were required to sign for twice the amount that they received, or else receive no food. Much of the wheat was transported by the EDF to Eritrea. [1] From 4–8 March 2021, 5,000 IDPs arrived. Oliver Behn of Médecins Sans Frontières described the new arrivals as being "in very bad conditions ... very exhausted, dehydrated, skinny". In March, Shire was considered to be a humanitarian base, with 16,000 IDPs hosted in three schools converted into camps. One refugee described having "survived on just leaves for a month while she hid in a forest". [2]
By June 2021, Shire was the town in Tigray Region hosting the highest number of IDPs, out of the total estimated 1,950,000 IDPs at the time. [1]
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), 10 civilians were killed in shelling of Shire on 17 November 2020. Tigray special forces were not present in Shire at the time according to residents. The victims' bodies, showing shrapnel wounds, were laid outside Suhul hospital for identification. The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) was in control of Shire by 18 November. HRW called the shelling "unlawful" and stated that "indiscriminate attacks, and attacks expected to cause greater harm to civilians than the anticipated military gain" would constitute war crimes. [3] According to a witness who spoke to Tghat , "factories, hotels, a mosque, churches, and condominium buildings" were destroyed by the ENDF and Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) after they entered Shire. [5] A resident stated to The Guardian that "All government assets have been destroyed and looted". [4]
Massacres of civilians in Shire including the killing of 13 people on 15 November 2020, of 200 people by the ENDF and EDF on 17 November following the entry of the two forces into Shire, and 10 on 15 February 2021. [1] Residents attributed the 17 November executions primarily to the EDF, describing the victims as having been "slaughtered like chickens". The corpses were left to be "eaten by hyenas". [4]
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 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 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).
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.
Beginning with the onset of the Tigray War in November 2020, acute food shortages leading to death and starvation became widespread in northern Ethiopia, and the Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions in particular. As of August 2022, there are 13 million people facing acute food insecurity, and an estimated 150,000–200,000 had died of starvation by March 2022. In the Tigray Region alone, 89% of people are in need of food aid, with those facing severe hunger reaching up to 47%. In a report published in June 2021, over 350,000 people were already experiencing catastrophic famine conditions. It is the worst famine to happen in East Africa since 2011–2012.
The Battle of Humera was fought between Ethiopia and allied forces against forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the city of Humera during the Tigray War. The battle took place from 9 to 11 November 2020, and is the first recorded time Eritrean troops saw action. It also led to the Humera massacre when Amhara and Ethiopian troops started beating and killing civilians. Many more civilians were killed and wounded because of the shelling during the battle. After it was controlled by the Eritrean, Ethiopian and Amhara started house in house search detained everyone they found, loot every house and put the people in concentration camps. Day by day the Amhara forces killed the residents they put in the concentration camps, and dumped the bodies over the bridge into Tekeze River.
The Goda massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place at the Goda Bottle and Glass Share Company in Gu'iguna in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 2 December 2020. Gu'iguna is a hamlet just north of Idaga Hamus town, Eastern zone of Tigray.
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).
On 28 November 2020, Mekelle was hit with an airstrike campaign during the Mekelle offensive of the Tigray War.
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 Debano massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Debano in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, around 11 January 2021. Debano, also called Endabano, is a tabiya that belongs to woreda Kayeh Tehli, Central zone of Tigray.
The February 2021 Kola Tembien massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Kola Tembien in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 10 February 2021. Kola Tembien is a district that belongs to the Central zone of Tigray.
The Zamr massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Zamr in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 3 March 2021. Zamr is a village that belongs to tabiya Simret, woreda Bizet, Eastern zone of Tigray.
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).
The Ziban Gedena massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Ziban Gedena in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 4 to 7 December 2020. Ziban Gedena is a village that belongs to woreda Tahtay Adiyabo, northwestern zone of Tigray.
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.
In the late hours of 7 January 2022, the Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) carried out an airstrike on a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) set up in Dedebit Elementary School, located in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Between 56 and 59 people were killed in the attack, and at least 30 others were left injured.
Between 14–18 October 2022, Ethiopian troops aided by Eritrean forces launched an offensive into Shire, in the separatist Tigray region. While Shire had been at the forefront of the conflict since 2020, the October 2022 offensive towards the town solidified Ethiopian and Eritrean control over it, and was the last major battle before peace negotiations began that November.
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.
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