Wukro massacres

Last updated
Wukro massacres
Part of the Tigray War
Wukro, veduta sulla collina antistante dalla chiesa di chirkos 01.jpg
Wide view of Wukro, November 2018
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Wukro
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Wukro
Location of Wukro in Ethiopia
Location Wukro (ዉቅሮ), Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Coordinates 13°47′N39°36′E / 13.783°N 39.600°E / 13.783; 39.600
Date16 November 2020 – 14 March 2021
Target Tigrayans
Attack type
Airstrike, Shooting, Mass killing
Deaths267+
Perpetrators Flag of Ethiopia.svg Ethiopian National Defence Force
Flag of Eritrea.svg Eritrean Defence Forces

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, [1] extrajudicial killings, and detention of civilians through at least March 2021. These massacres in Wukro received international attention in media articles. [2]

Contents

Attacks

2020

Ahead of the arrival of the ENDF and EDF in late November 2020, heavy bombing levelled homes and businesses in Wukro and sent plumes of dust and smoke rising above near-deserted streets on 16 and 25–27 November. [3] As people hid in their houses, 14 civilians [4] were killed in the bombing that involved the intervention of the Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) and "Pterosaurus" drones, launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab in Eritrea. The Chinese-made, armed drones bombed Tigrayan towns and defence forces. [5] [6]

Upon arriving, the ENDF and EDF allegedly killed 220 civilians in Wukro on 27–28 November. [4] Many residents responded by fleeing into nearby mountains; some recorded footage of the town's destruction on their cellphones. After that, EDF soldiers spent days looting homes, banks and factories, while also killing dozens of young men they suspected of sympathizing with Tigrayan rebel fighters. 81 of the victims are buried at the back of an Orthodox church in the town. [2]

The ENDF and EDF were reported to have killed 12 more civilians on 30 December. [4]

2021

On 10 February 2021, the EDF killed 18 people, most of whom were civilians protesting against their presence in the town. At least one of the 18 killed was a 15-year-old boy; his father stated that his son was not a protester, and was instead on his to play volleyball when he was killed. [2] [7] On 14 March 2021, the ENDF reportedly killed more civilians; according to EEPA, 5 civilians were shot, killing 3 of them. According to their neighbours, these killings were a retaliation for recent attacks by Tigray regional forces. [4] [8]

Aftermath

The EHRC–OHCHR Tigray investigation reported that massacres happened in this locality, without going into further detail. [9]

Factories in Wukro were still in a state of significant disrepair by late April 2023, with the EFFORT-owned Saba Stones and Sheba Leather being completely destroyed by the war. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tigray war</span> Armed conflict in Ethiopia from 2020 to 2022

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mai Kadra massacre</span> 2020 ethnic cleansing in the Tigray War of Ethiopia

The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre and ethnic cleansing carried out during the Tigray War on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in Welkait in northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. Responsibility was attributed to a pro-TPLF youth group and forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the EHRC-OHCHR Tigray Investigation, preliminary investigations by Amnesty International, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), and interviews conducted in Mai Kadra by Agence France-Presse. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and EHRC reported that at least 5 Tigrayans were killed in Mai Kadra by Amhara militas such as Fano in retaliation. Tigrayan refugees in Sudan told multiple news outlets that Tigrayans in Mai Kadra were targeted by either Amhara militias, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), or both.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axum massacre</span> 2020 massacre in Ethiopia, as part of the Tigray War

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hagere Selam massacres</span> Massacre in Hagere Selam, Southwestern Tigray as part of Tigray war

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adigrat massacres</span> Civilian killings in Ethiopia during the Tigray War

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual violence in the Tigray war</span>

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casualties of the Tigray war</span> Breakdown of Tigray War casualties

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. 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. 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."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War crimes in the Tigray war</span>

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.

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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.

References

  1. "Ethiopia's Tigray: Men forced to rape family members, UN reports". Al Jazeera. Reuters. 25 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Corey-Boulet, Robbie (March 16, 2021). "'The fighting continues': A Tigray town reels from drawn-out war". Agence France-Presse via France 24.
  3. France24, 16 March 2020: 'The fighting continues': A Tigray town reels from drawn-out war Archived 2021-04-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 3 4 Annys, Sofie; Vanden Bempt, Tim; Negash, Emnet; De Sloover, Lars; Ghekiere, Robin; Haegeman, Kiara; Temmerman, Daan; Nyssen, Jan (2021). Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5804284. Archived from the original on 2021-09-13.
  5. "YouUAV.com, 4 December 2020". Youuav.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  6. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 64 – 23 January 2021" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  7. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 84 – 15 February 2021" (PDF). Europe External Programme with Africa . 2021-02-14. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  8. "Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 103 - 15 March 2021" (PDF). Europe External Programme with Africa .
  9. Tibebu, Israel (2021-11-03). "Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by all Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia" (PDF). EHRC, OHCHR . Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
  10. "News: Regional states presidents, city mayors visit Tigray's war ravaged factories in Wukro". Addis Standard . 27 April 2023.