Latest news with #Tigray
The Guardian
8 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Mass rape, forced pregnancy and sexual torture in Tigray amount to crimes against humanity
Hundreds of health workers across Tigray have documented mass rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and sexual torture of women and children by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, in systematic attacks that amount to crimes against humanity, a new report has found. The research, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), represents the most comprehensive documentation yet of weaponised sexual violence in Tigray. It reviewed medical records of more than 500 patients, surveys of 600 health workers, and in-depth interviews with doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and community leaders. The authors outline evidence of systematic attacks designed to destroy the fertility of Tigrayan women and call for international bodies to investigate the crime of genocide. Where is Tigray? Tigray is the most northern of Ethiopia's 11 regional states, lying along the southern border of Eritrea with Sudan to the west. How did the war start? Years of tensions erupted into war in November 2020. Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who had inflamed hostilities by delaying federal elections, alleged that Tigray's ruling party had attacked a military camp in the state capital, Mekelle. He sent in troops to oust the state government and ordered a communications blackout. Who is involved? The invasion became a joint effort between three parties: Ethiopia, Eritrea, and regional forces from Tigray's neighbouring state of Amhara. Ethiopia's prime minister denied the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray for months, despite it becoming clear he had formed an alliance with the country's former enemy to mobilise both nations' armies. Amhara has long-standing territorial disputes with Tigray and its own tensions with the federal government – they, too, sent troops. On the other side, the ruling party in Tigray's regional government, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), founded and mobilised its own army when the war began, the Tigray Defence Forces, and was joined by militias from the ethnically marginalised Oromo people. Why are they fighting? Each party has a complex history of disputes. Ethiopia has a federal system, and historically its states have maintained a high level of autonomy. Tigray's ruling party, the TPLF, had been a dominant force in national politics, and led the coalition which ruled Ethiopia for three decades until 2018. The group lost much of its power when Abiy Ahmed was elected prime minister in April 2018, and a political rift began to grow between the TPLF and Abiy's administration. Eritrea and Amhara both have long-standing territorial disputes with Tigray. Eritrea brought violence along Tigray's border during the two decades of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war, a conflict which saw Abiy awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending in 2019. What happened during the conflict? The war resulted in massive civilian casualties, with atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by all parties. As troops moved into Tigray, Ethiopia blockaded the region, preventing journalists, UN agencies and aid from entering and limiting information getting out. Tigray quickly descended into an acute hunger crisis. By the time the ceasefire was signed in November 2022, academics estimated that between 300,000 and 800,000 people had died from violence or starvation as a result of the blockade. The capital Mekelle was decimated. Rates of sexual violence were extreme: surveys indicate that around 10% of Tigrayan women were raped during the conflict. Is the conflict over? The war formally ended in 2022, but violence in the region has continued and is reported to be again escalating. By mid-2025 Eritrean troops were still occupying chunks of Tigray, according to the UN, and continue to be accused of mass rape, arbitrary detention and looting. Large-scale sexual violence by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in the region continues: NGOs have documented hundreds of cases of rape since hostilities ended, and concluded that "the scale and nature of these violations has not materially changed". Now, there are fears the region could descend into war again, after fresh conflicts erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and between Ethiopia's federal government and Amhara state. The attacks described by healthcare workers are extreme in their brutality, often leaving survivors with severe, long-term injuries. 'Having worked on gender-based violence for two decades … this is not something I have ever seen in other conflicts,' said Payal Shah, a human rights lawyer and co-author of the report. 'It is a really horrific and extreme form of sexual violence, and one that deserves the world's attention.' Survivors treated by health professionals ranged from infants to elderly people. The youngest was less than a year old. More than 20% of health workers said those they treated for sexual violence included very young children (1-12 years); and 63% treated children under the age of 17. Dr Abraha Gebreegziabher, chief clinical director of Ayder hospital in Tigray, told the Guardian his hospital treated thousands of rape survivors, at times admitting more than 100 a week. 'Some [trends] stand out during the war,' he said. 'One is gang raping. Second is the insertion of foreign bodies, including messages and broken rocks or stones … Then, the intentional spread of infection, HIV particularly,' he said. 'I am convinced, and see strong evidence, that rape was used as a weapon of war.' In June, the Guardian revealed a pattern of extreme sexual violence where soldiers forced foreign objects – including metal screws, stones and other debris – into women's reproductive organs. In at least two cases, the soldiers inserted plastic-wrapped letters detailing their intent to destroy Tigrayan women's ability to give birth. The new research included interviews with a number of healthcare workers who independently reported treating victims of this kind of attack. Many of the survivors said soldiers expressed their desire to exterminate the Tigrayan ethnicity – either by destroying Tigrayan women's reproductive organs, or forcing them to give birth to children of the rapist's ethnicity. One psychologist who treated a teenage girl said: 'Her arm was broken and became paralysed when the perpetrators tried to remove the Norplant contraceptive method inserted in her upper arm, and this was aimed to force pregnancy from the perpetrator. [They said]: 'You will give birth from us, then the Tigrayan ethnic[ity] will be wiped out eventually.'' Other women were held at military camps, some for months or years, and gave birth to the children of their assailants while in captivity. Legal analysis of the medical record data and health worker testimony found conclusive evidence of crimes against humanity, including mass rape, forced pregnancy, and enforced sterilisation, Shah said. Women were frequently assaulted in public, by multiple attackers, and in front of family. The attacks included significant breaches of taboo in Tigray, including anal rape and attacks on menstruating women. The resulting stigma meant that some survivors were divorced by their husbands, rejected by families, or socially excluded. 'This form of violence is being imparted in a way that is intended to cause trauma, humiliation, suffering and fracture and break communities,' Shah said. 'This is going to have generational impacts.' Many survivors are still living in displaced persons' camps. A number of clinics providing for survivors have shut due to the closure of USAID. 'The very fabric of these women's personalities and sense of self has been shattered,' one psychiatrist said. A significant portion of health workers had treated children. Many were too young to understand what had happened, one nurse said: 'Most of them don't know what rape is. They do not know what the consequence is.' For girls who became pregnant, some as young as 12, the health risks were significant. 'Their bodies are not fully developed to handle the demands of pregnancy,' a reproductive health coordinator working with child survivors said. Ayder hospital treated a number of children, Abraha said, many of whom developed long-term conditions, including fistula. As well as direct victims of sexual attacks, health professionals described treating children who had experienced 'forced witnessing', where they were made to watch parents and siblings being raped or killed, causing severe psychological trauma. Health workers in Tigray face significant risk for speaking publicly about sexual violence by government-affiliated forces. One surgical worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian that the youngest patient he had treated for sexual attacks was three years old. 'It is very difficult to think of the worst [cases],' he said. At Ayder hospital, Abraha said medical staff experienced acute psychological distress and nightmares as a result of what they had witnessed. 'We hope that many people will hear [about this] across the surface of the Earth. If justice can be served, maybe consolation will follow.' The report covered the conflict and post-conflict period to 2024, and concluded that weaponised sexual violence has continued since the ceasefire, and expanded to new regions. 'The perpetrators must be punished, and the situation must be resolved,' one health worker said. 'True healing requires justice.' Anbassa*, a human rights worker in Ethiopia who helped conduct the surveys, said: 'No one is accountable.' The failure to hold perpetrators to account meant human rights abuses continued, he said, with atrocities now being committed in the nearby regions of Amhara and Afar. 'If this conflict continues, this impunity that happened in Tigray, the aftermath of this one will continue, [and] conflicts are going to erupt to other regions.' * Name changed In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Echoes of Ethiopian famine in Gaza crisis
With reference to the ongoing starvation in Gaza and the Ethiopian famine of 1984, Gaby Hinsliff writes: 'Except this time it's no natural disaster' (There is a dangerous disconnect: on Gaza, politics no longer speaks for the people, 24 July). But the starvation of Tigrayans in northern Ethiopia in the 1980s was as man-made as that of Gaza. The Ethiopian government of the time blocked food from reaching Tigray to starve it into submission. The earlier government of Emperor Haile Selassie did likewise, and also persuaded its ally, the British government, to bomb Tigray in 1943. Today, the starvation, and the rape and killing of Tigrayans, continues as the Pretoria agreement, which was supposed to bring peace after the most recent war on Tigray, in which 600,000 Tigrayans perished (2020-22), has not been fully implemented. Many Tigrayans are still unable to return to their ancestral homes in western Tigray as it is occupied by hostile forces from other Ethiopian regions and from neighbouring Eritrea. Across the world, starvation remains an effective tool of WardenLondon Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
13 hours ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Mass rape, forced pregnancy and sexual torture in Tigray amount to crimes against humanity
Hundreds of health workers across Tigray have documented mass rape, sexual slavery, forced pregnancy and sexual torture of women and children by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, in systematic attacks that amount to crimes against humanity, a new report has found. The research, compiled by Physicians for Human Rights and the Organization for Justice and Accountability in the Horn of Africa (OJAH), represents the most comprehensive documentation yet of weaponised sexual violence in Tigray. It reviewed medical records of more than 500 patients, surveys of 600 health workers, and in-depth interviews with doctors, nurses, psychiatrists and community leaders. The authors outline evidence of systematic attacks designed to destroy the fertility of Tigrayan women and call for international bodies to investigate the crime of genocide. Where is Tigray? Tigray is the most northern of Ethiopia's 11 regional states, lying along the southern border of Eritrea with Sudan to the west. How did the war start? Years of tensions erupted into war in November 2020. Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who had inflamed hostilities by delaying federal elections, alleged that Tigray's ruling party had attacked a military camp in the state capital, Mekelle. He sent in troops to oust the state government and ordered a communications blackout. Who is involved? The invasion became a joint effort between three parties: Ethiopia, Eritrea, and regional forces from Tigray's neighbouring state of Amhara. Ethiopia's prime minister denied the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray for months, despite it becoming clear he had formed an alliance with the country's former enemy to mobilise both nations' armies. Amhara has long-standing territorial disputes with Tigray and its own tensions with the federal government – they, too, sent troops. On the other side, the ruling party in Tigray's regional government, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), founded and mobilised its own army when the war began, the Tigray Defence Forces, and was joined by militias from the ethnically marginalised Oromo people. Why are they fighting? Each party has a complex history of disputes. Ethiopia has a federal system, and historically its states have maintained a high level of autonomy. Tigray's ruling party, the TPLF, had been a dominant force in national politics, and led the coalition which ruled Ethiopia for three decades until 2018. The group lost much of its power when Abiy Ahmed was elected prime minister in April 2018, and a political rift began to grow between the TPLF and Abiy's administration. Eritrea and Amhara both have long-standing territorial disputes with Tigray. Eritrea brought violence along Tigray's border during the two decades of the Ethiopia-Eritrea war, a conflict which saw Abiy awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending in 2019. What happened during the conflict? The war resulted in massive civilian casualties, with atrocities and crimes against humanity committed by all parties. As troops moved into Tigray, Ethiopia blockaded the region, preventing journalists, UN agencies and aid from entering and limiting information getting out. Tigray quickly descended into an acute hunger crisis. By the time the ceasefire was signed in November 2022, academics estimated that between 300,000 and 800,000 people had died from violence or starvation as a result of the blockade. The capital Mekelle was decimated. Rates of sexual violence were extreme: surveys indicate that around 10% of Tigrayan women were raped during the conflict. Is the conflict over? The war formally ended in 2022, but violence in the region has continued and is reported to be again escalating. By mid-2025 Eritrean troops were still occupying chunks of Tigray, according to the UN, and continue to be accused of mass rape, arbitrary detention and looting. Large-scale sexual violence by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces in the region continues: NGOs have documented hundreds of cases of rape since hostilities ended, and concluded that "the scale and nature of these violations has not materially changed". Now, there are fears the region could descend into war again, after fresh conflicts erupted between Eritrea and Ethiopia, and between Ethiopia's federal government and Amhara state. The attacks described by healthcare workers are extreme in their brutality, often leaving survivors with severe, long-term injuries. 'Having worked on gender-based violence for two decades … this is not something I have ever seen in other conflicts,' said Payal Shah, a human rights lawyer and co-author of the report. 'It is a really horrific and extreme form of sexual violence, and one that deserves the world's attention.' Survivors treated by health professionals ranged from infants to elderly people. The youngest was less than a year old. More than 20% of health workers said those they treated for sexual violence included very young children (1-12 years); and 63% treated children under the age of 17. Dr Abraha Gebreegziabher, chief clinical director of Ayder hospital in Tigray, told the Guardian his hospital treated thousands of rape survivors, at times admitting more than 100 a week. 'Some [trends] stand out during the war,' he said. 'One is gang raping. Second is the insertion of foreign bodies, including messages and broken rocks or stones … Then, the intentional spread of infection, HIV particularly,' he said. 'I am convinced, and see strong evidence, that rape was used as a weapon of war.' In June, the Guardian revealed a pattern of extreme sexual violence where soldiers forced foreign objects – including metal screws, stones and other debris – into women's reproductive organs. In at least two cases, the soldiers inserted plastic-wrapped letters detailing their intent to destroy Tigrayan women's ability to give birth. The new research included interviews with a number of healthcare workers who independently reported treating victims of this kind of attack. Many of the survivors said soldiers expressed their desire to exterminate the Tigrayan ethnicity – either by destroying Tigrayan women's reproductive organs, or forcing them to give birth to children of the rapist's ethnicity. One psychologist who treated a teenage girl said: 'Her arm was broken and became paralysed when the perpetrators tried to remove the Norplant contraceptive method inserted in her upper arm, and this was aimed to force pregnancy from the perpetrator. [They said]: 'You will give birth from us, then the Tigrayan ethnic[ity] will be wiped out eventually.'' Other women were held at military camps, some for months or years, and gave birth to the children of their assailants while in captivity. Legal analysis of the medical record data and health worker testimony found conclusive evidence of crimes against humanity, including mass rape, forced pregnancy, and enforced sterilisation, Shah said. Women were frequently assaulted in public, by multiple attackers, and in front of family. The attacks included significant breaches of taboo in Tigray, including anal rape and attacks on menstruating women. The resulting stigma meant that some survivors were divorced by their husbands, rejected by families, or socially excluded. 'This form of violence is being imparted in a way that is intended to cause trauma, humiliation, suffering and fracture and break communities,' Shah said. 'This is going to have generational impacts.' Many survivors are still living in displaced persons' camps. A number of clinics providing for survivors have shut due to the closure of USAID. 'The very fabric of these women's personalities and sense of self has been shattered,' one psychiatrist said. A significant portion of health workers had treated children. Many were too young to understand what had happened, one nurse said: 'Most of them don't know what rape is. They do not know what the consequence is.' For girls who became pregnant, some as young as 12, the health risks were significant. 'Their bodies are not fully developed to handle the demands of pregnancy,' a reproductive health coordinator working with child survivors said. Ayder hospital treated a number of children, Abraha said, many of whom developed long-term conditions, including fistula. As well as direct victims of sexual attacks, health professionals described treating children who had experienced 'forced witnessing', where they were made to watch parents and siblings being raped or killed, causing severe psychological trauma. Health workers in Tigray face significant risk for speaking publicly about sexual violence by government-affiliated forces. One surgical worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian that medical staff experienced acute psychological distress and nightmares as a result of what they had witnessed. 'We hope that many people will hear [about this] across the surface of the Earth. If justice can be served, maybe consolation will follow.' The report covered the conflict and post-conflict period to 2024, and concluded that weaponised sexual violence has continued since the ceasefire, and expanded to new regions. 'The perpetrators must be punished, and the situation must be resolved,' one health worker said. 'True healing requires justice.' Anbassa*, a human rights worker in Ethiopia who helped conduct the surveys, said: 'No one is accountable.' The failure to hold perpetrators to account meant human rights abuses continued, he said, with atrocities now being committed in the nearby regions of Amhara and Afar. 'If this conflict continues, this impunity that happened in Tigray, the aftermath of this one will continue, [and] conflicts are going to erupt to other regions.' * Name changed In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at
Miami Herald
23-07-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Iconic horned species from Ethiopia may not survive this ‘time of lawlessness'
The walia ibex, with its distinctive large curved horns, is regarded as a national symbol in Ethiopia. It is also 'one of the most threatened mammals' on the brink of extinction, experts said. The species came close to extinction in 1966. Officials established the Simien Mountains National Park to protect the last 200 walia ibexes on Earth, where for decades, their population grew. Now, recent surveys show their numbers are approaching critical levels again, according to a study published July 21 in the journal Oryx. 'The war opened the door for poaching during this time of lawlessness,' a local resident told researchers. In 2015, researchers counted 865 walia ibexes in Simien Mountains National Park. In 2024, just 306 were documented, 194 of which were adults, the study said. One of the criterion for a species to qualify as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List is a 'mature' population below the threshold of 250 individuals, according to the study. 'Clear evidence of poaching, including snares and animal carcasses,' have been discovered in Simien Mountains National Park, the study said. Locals identify 'fundamental' drivers of poaching Researchers interviewed 'park personnel, village elders, farmers, local authority staff and militia' in the communities surrounding the ibex's habitat to investigate possible causes for the uptick in poaching. According to the study, more than 70% of people 'attributed the drop in walia ibex numbers to poaching, both for food and medicinal purposes,' citing COVID-19 and the 2021–2022 Tigray war just north of the park as 'fundamental' causes. 'COVID-19 has obstructed tourist flows, decreased revenues and halted patrolling activities and awareness,' an interviewee told researchers. Ibexes have historically been a major tourist attraction in Ethiopia, providing income for the region in addition to their ecological importance, the study said. Any instances of poaching, which have been rare over the last several decades, were reported to park rangers. Researchers theorize that as the number of annual visitors dropped from 32,000 to 4,300 between 2019 and 2023, the 'decrease in income from tourism may have eroded the previously positive relationship between communities and Park authorities, leading to an increase in poaching,' according to the study. Experts are creating an action plan to save the species, which involves mobilizing 'community ambassadors' with the goal of trust-building and improved communication, annual population censuses including the use of camera traps, and recategorizing the walia ibex as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List, according to the study. The Simien Mountains are in the northwestern corner of Ethiopia near the border with Eritrea and Sudan.
Daily Mail
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Survivors expose horrors of Tigray war in harrowing testimonies
Survivors of the Tigray war in Ethiopia have spoken out about the horror they encountered in the violent conflict, including gang-rape, torture, and mutilation during and after the fighting. Tseday, a mother-of-two who had been living in the Oromia region with her husband when the war broke out, told French newspaper Le Monde that she was stopped and raped by 'soldiers from the federal army' as they fled into exile in the months after the ceasefire. In a harrowing testimony published on Wednesday, she said: 'They raped me first, then my two-year-old daughter. After that, they killed my husband and cut up his body in front of us. They forced us to watch.' SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Nigist, a 17-year-old, told the outlet that 'armed men', of no stated affiliation, found her during an invasion of her village in the Kafta Humera area of western Tigray at some point before June 2023. 'They told us to undress, but I resisted,' she recalled. 'That's when they started hitting me, tearing off my clothes. I was raped by several of them. Then I fainted.' Birhan Gebrekristos, an author on the subject, told Le Monde that testimonies from the war described acts of torture including the insertion of sharp objects, screws or pieces of metal into women's wombs. Eritrean soldiers allegedly stuck needles into the womb of one pregnant woman, forcing an abortion, he said. Her child did not survive, and she later contracted a fatal infection as a result. Rights groups have documented horrifying accounts of abuse allegedly perpetrated by both allied Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. In November 2020, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into the northern region of Tigray, accusing its governing party, the TPLF, of mounting surprise attacks against military bases in the area. The TPLF denied responsibility. Journalists were barred from entering the region, challenging efforts to verify claims. In February 2021, Amnesty International reported that Eritrean soldiers had killed 'hundreds of civilians' in the city of Axum, Tigray, in November. Reports of mass atrocities began to emerge, with Eritrean forces accused of massacres and systematic rape. The U.S. said violence in Western Tigray was tantamount to 'ethnic cleansing'. A regional official alleged in April 2021 that Eritrean soldiers were holding Tigrayan women as sex slaves amid a wave of reported gang rapes - an accusation roundly denied by Eritrea. Tigrayan forces advanced on neighboring regions the following June and committed atrocities, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence. Ethiopian government forces were also accused of widespread and systematic atrocities. A formal peace was agreed on November 2, 2022, but monitoring rights groups continued to report on forcible expulsions of Tigrayans as part of what they called an ethnic cleansing campaign. Survivors of the conflict, speaking to Le Monde, described alleged abuses by military forces months after the war ended. The outlet's reporting on the aftermath found that many victims have found no support from the authorities in Ethiopia or Eritrea since the war ended. Meseret Hadush, the founder of the Hiwyet Charity Association (HCA) told The Reporter Ethiopia earlier this year that 'over the past two years, we have reached nearly six thousand mothers, providing them with essential first aid and psychological treatment'. The organisation has not received funding from governmental bodies, she said, and relies largely on diaspora donations. She said that the end of the war had not brought about the end of sexual violence in the region, with widespread 'hardship' perpetuating the abuse of victims. Hadush explained: 'I still feel like a sense of siege persists, marked by widespread unemployment, a struggling economy, shortages of essential medicines, and visible food scarcity. Although the active combat in Tigray has ceased, the effects of the war still persist.' She noticed that female victims were still often burdened by social stigma, and the issue was often concealed 'in an effort to preserve family reputation and honor', adding: 'Many survivors have lost their marriages, particularly those who became pregnant as a result of sexual violence.' Tseday, who has been seeking help as a survivor of sexual violence, recalled to Le Monde how she fled the Oromia region with her husband when the war broke out. 'As Tigrayans, it was impossible to keep living there,' she said. The mother-of-two left with her family in June 2023 and journeyed into the Afar region before being stopped by 'soldiers from the federal army'. She said that she and her two-year-old daughter were raped before soldiers 'forced us to watch' them kill and 'cut up' her husband. They were taken to a 'cell' near the town of Samara, where she said they stayed for a year. Every day, she said, a soldier abused her until the Tigrayan army liberated them. Human Rights Watch reported in June 2023 that they had spoken to 35 people between September 2022 and April 2023 who alleged more than 1,000 Tigrayans had been held in detention across several towns on the basis of their identity before being expelled. One 28-year-old who was detained in Bet Hintset prison in Humera said that there was 'no medical treatment' at their unofficial detention site. 'If people got sick, they remained there until they die.' 'Many' displaced people told Human Rights Watch after the conflict ended that they did not feel safe to return so long as abusive officials and security forces remained. In October 2022, nearing the end of the conflict, the UN refugee agency had registered 47,000 Ethiopian refugees in eastern Sudan. More than two million people were forced to flee their homes over the course of the conflict. Civilian structures in Tigray, including hospitals and schools, were shelled, looted and destroyed by Ethopian federal forces and regional militias, and by Eritrean armed forces. Ethiopia had only recently emerged from a decades-long war with neighboring Eritrea. Before its independence, Ethiopia's northern neighbor had been friendly to the TPLF, together overthrowing the despotic Mengistu regime in the late 1980s. But the 2020-2022 war saw Eritrea and Ethiopia attack Tigray from the north and south respectively, squeezing the civilian population. Ahmed only acknowledged Eritrean soldiers had entered Tigray in March 2021, after months of denials. Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 after settling the long-standing territorial dispute with Eritrea. He ran on a platform of peace and reconciliation, and faced wide criticism over the conflict in Tigray.
