The River Runs Red: Ethiopia’s Tigray War
The river runs red, the river runs red. No winners or losers when you count the dead.
The world has evolved to allow the presence of conflict. It has been a constant throughout all of history and we now accept its eternal immortality. Now, there is such an abundance of conflict that some of the bloodiest wars go unknown. This may be believable to some, but what shouldn’t be is that a government’s attempts to ethnically cleanse their area have gone without notice. State sanctioned torture should be breaking news.
In a river where many people are baptized at the beginning of their lives, bodies are being found dead, floating downstream, returned to the water they started in. The Tekeze is a major river in Ethiopia, a country that is currently experiencing one of the deadliest wars in its history. Neither side will back down, no matter how much innocent blood is shed, no matter how red the river runs.
History
Up until recently, the government of Ethiopia has been a dominant-party system under the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) which consisted of groups of ethnically based parties, namely the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). After growing dissent from the public and 27 years of repression, the TPLF was removed from power in 2018. Soon thereafter, they moved their operations to the Tigray region and continued governing the land despite frequently fighting with the federal government.
In 2019, the current president of Ethiopia, Aniy Ahmed, created the Prosperity Party by merging the EPRDF with several opposition parties in an attempt to evade ethnic federalism and nationalism. The TPLF were averse to the merger and tried to further distance themselves by holding elections in Tigray, despite the opposition of the federal government who later declared the elections illegal. Because the TPFL refused to join the Prosperity Party, they were no longer part of the governing coalition which caused tensions between the TPLF and the federal government to escalate. Another source of tension, and maybe even the reason for the conflict is the EPRDF’s refusal to recognize the TPLF’s election in Tigray or allow them to be an autonomous entity.
In November of 2020, the TPLF attacked the headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, claiming self defense, and marking the start of the war. In response, the Ethiopian government launched a counter offensive, declaring a state of emergency and pausing government services in the Tigray region.
- The ENDF launched pterosaur drones, bombing Tigray towns.
- November 17th-19th: Ethiopian government captured the cities of Shire, Alamata, Raya, Adwa, and Axum.
- November 23rd: Ethiopian government reached Mekelle (regional capital of Tigray) and encircled it. Citizens were told to flee the city because the Ethiopian government would show no mercy. The Ethiopian forces shelled the city for the next few days, killing and injuring civilians to take full control of the city.
- The Tigray People’s Liberation Front and its allies met in the mountains after Ethiopian forces captured Mekelle. There, they started a guerilla campaign against Ethiopian-allied forces.
- November 28–29: The Axum massacre of up to 800 civilians by the Eritrean Defense Forces, who would then go on to kill 80–150 Idaga Hamus, 17 Hadish Hiwot and 13 teenage boys in the subsequent days.
Though, TPLF doesn’t have a clear conscience either:
- November 9th: Amhara and Welkait civilians were killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra by machete wielding militia members and police loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
- November 14th: Tigrayan forces launched rockets at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, but they missed.
- The Ethiopian government accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front of blowing up four main bridges leading to Mekelle (so that the federal government couldn’t reach them), which the Tigray government denied. Tigray also launched rockets at the Amhara region of Bahir Dar and Gondar, which they claimed were military terminals that served as bases to carry out airstrikes.
The outskirts of central and southern Tigray were controlled by the Tigray Defense Forces (Tigray People’s Liberation Front) as well as parts of eastern and south-eastern Tigray. The main roads and urban areas were possessed by the ENDF. Parts of western Tigray were dominated by Amharan (a region in Ethiopia fighting alongside the ENDF) forces and Eritrean (a neighboring country also opposing Tigray) forces. The war reached a standstill in April 2021 as both sides realized that the conflict may never end. Neither side was taking their eyes off of their interpretation of victory: regional autonomy for the TPLF and domination for the ENDF.
War Crimes
It is now a year later, and the fighting still continues. Thousands of people have died on both sides, towns have been left deserted, other African countries have been affected, hundreds of women and girls have been raped and sexually abused, and children are dying of malnutrition. Despite this, Ethiopia suspended humanitarian aid.
Tigrayans are rounded up and marched to detention centers by Amhara and ENDF forces. There is no food, water, toilets, privacy or space in the camps, yet more Tigrayans are brought everyday. Then, they are led to the Tekeze river where they are shot and left to float downstream.
There are 2.3 million children that have been cut off from desperately needed aid, according to the United Nations. The Ethiopian government has strictly controlled access to the Tigray region which has left the UN disappointed that they can’t help those in need. They need food, medicine, water, fuel, and other essentials. About 4.5 million people are still in need of aid and about 1 million of those are not in accessible areas due to ongoing fighting. There is very little access to clean drinking water, and because of this there is heightened risk of outbreaks of Covid. All of this is occurring without functioning medical centers, and few hospitals available are lacking the equipment necessary to keep people alive.
The Ethiopian National Defense Force and their allies have sexually abused hundreds of women in the Tigray region, including children and pregnant women. Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General claims that “rape and sexual violence have been used as a weapon of war to inflict lasting physical and psychological damage on women and girls in Tigray. Hundreds have been subjected to brutal treatment aimed at degrading and dehumanising them.” One woman says that the rapists told their victims that they were intent on ethnically cleansing Tigray. As she was raped, one of her attackers threatened her saying, “you Tigrayans have no history, you have no culture. I can do what I want to you and no one cares.”
Apart from getting pregnant and STD’s, women have to experience these memories and that voice in their heads constantly. They also have to live knowing that people don’t believe them; both the Ethiopian and Eritrean government have stated that their soldiers had nothing to do with the mass rapes and avoided all blame.
Tremendous conflicts such as this always seem to have a good guy and a bad guy, a hero and a villain, a mistreated underdog and a power hungry bully. In my opinion, this issue isn’t as cut and dry; both sides had understandable initial intentions, but have now committed horrible crimes and are becoming more objectionable with every bomb dropped. It’s sad to see this issue erupt and escalate into what it has become, as it did seem solvable once, without conflict, though now it’s too late. There is no winner or loser in this war because both sides are fighting the same battle: to protect Ethiopia. The only loser is the country itself.
As the Tekeze river overflows with bodies, the country is inundated with violence and there seems to be no end in sight. There is no easy, measurable, or foreseeable solution to the problem, but enough damage has been done already and the country can’t handle any more. Ethiopia needs help from the outside, because the country has stopped helping itself.
How to Help
Donate:
Write a letter:
Listen to their stories:
