Tigray conflict: Bodies found floating in the river between Sudan & Ethiopia’s conflicted Tigray region

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 07:56 am

Last week at least 50 bodies were found floating in the river between Ethiopia and Sudan, Sudan’s Kassala province authorities confirmed. It is believed these bodies are of the people who were attempting to flee the bloody war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. Such is the impact and aftermath of the Tigray conflict that is still going on. 

Many bodies were found with a gunshot wound, while some had their hands tied. The extent of manslaughter and humanitarian crisis the war in the region has catapulted into a larger catastrophe. 

The Setit river, known as Tekeze in Ethiopia where the bodies were seen floating, flows through the region that witnessed the worst trouble throughout nine months of the Tigray war. 

Tewodros Tefera, a surgeon who fled the Tigray city of Humera to Sudan said that he saw two bodies on Monday. One of them was a man who had his hands tied while the other was a woman with a chest wound. The bodies are said to be found downstream of Humera. This is the place where local Tigrayans have accused authorities and allied forces from Amhara region of Ethiopia of forcing them out during war citing their claim on the western Tigray region. “We are actually taking care of the bodies spotted by fishermen,” Tewodros said. “I suspect there are more bodies on the river.”

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Another doctor who saw the bodies is working in Hamadayet told Associated Press that though it was difficult to identify the people, bodies could be identified as ethnic Tigrayans due to facial markings. He shared that some of them had been even struck with an axe. 

A Twitter account created by the Ethiopian government has called reports of bodies found floating a “fake campaign” by propagandists in Tigray forces. 

Samantha Power, administrator of the US Agency for International Development, who visited a camp in Sudan hosting Ethiopians who are fleeing the Tigray war said that the world’s worst hunger crisis is unfolding in the region. Over 900,000 people in the region are facing famine conditions.