New Footage Emerges of Possible War Crimes in Ethiopia

Two new videos have emerged showing what appear to be war crimes in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

A video released Monday by a watchdog site shows the bodies of at least 20 men strewn across the road of a Tigrayan village. The watchdog site reports that Eritrean and Ethiopian troops killed the young men in a January massacre.

Additional footage allegedly shows Eritrean forces shelling a hilltop church, leaving the building in rubble. The church neighbors a famed mosque that occupying forces have also targeted in recent months.

Armed conflict broke out between Tigrayans and the Ethiopian government late last year after the Tigray Regional Government conducted local elections against Ethiopia’s orders. New reports indicate neighboring Eritrea has also sent troops into the region to support the Ethiopian government.

Dade Desta, the director of the Tigray Center for Information and Communication, said these actions amount to genocide and warrant U.S. action.

“They are trying to ruin the region by attacking the community’s identity and destroying it where they can. They destroyed the church for the sake of it,” Desta said of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces. “It’s happening everywhere in Tigray.”

Due to limited communications infrastructure and little on-the-ground reporting from the United States or United Nations, the full extent of war crimes in Tigray remains unknown. Both Tigrayan protesters and Republican lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to take action and pressure Ethiopia to end the violence.

The administration has thus far urged Eritrean forces to leave the region and asked for a ceasefire.

Desta said the Biden administration’s approach has been insufficient.

“Talking will never make them leave. You need action,” Desta said. “What we need today is a Kosovo-style intervention. People are dying in the thousands, it’s a genocide.”

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

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