Amnesty International accused Eritrean forces on Friday of killing hundreds of civilians in northern Ethiopia over 24 hours last year, an incident it described as a potential crime against humanity. It was a rare official acknowledgment from Ethiopia that Eritrean troops participated in the conflict during the government's crackdown in the Tigray region last year. Amnesty said it had spoken to 41 witnesses who described the mass killings of "many hundreds of civilians" by Eritrean troops in Axum, an ancient city in northern Ethiopia. Many Tigrayans say the Ethiopian army drew on support from Eritrean forces, former enemies, in the campaign. The state-run Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released a statement timed to coincide with the Amnesty report, saying preliminary investigations indicated that Eritrean soldiers had killed an unknown number of civilians in Axum.

Source: Ethiopian News February 27, 2021 01:18 UTC