![TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda – then Ethiopian Government Communication Affairs Office Minister – addresses a news conference on violent protests that had been taking place in the Oromiya Region in November, 2015, in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on February 25, 2016. [Photo by REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/download.jpg?resize=800%2C561&ssl=1)
A total of 76 others were wounded in the attack on the market in the town of Alamata, regional Tigray TV reported in the evening. Both military aircraft and drones were involved in the attack. TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda confirmed on Twitter that the victims were all civilians.
The central government in Addis Ababa did not comment at first.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) had earlier said Tigrayan forces battling the Ethiopian government executed civilians in two towns located in the country’s Amhara region earlier this year.
In a report released on Thursday, the rights group said the killings took place between August 31 and September 9.
“On August 31, Tigrayan forces entered the village of Chenna and engaged in sporadic and at times heavy fighting with Ethiopian federal forces and allied Amhara militias,” the HRW report said.
Residents told the group that over the next five days Tigrayan forces executed 26 civilians in 15 separate incidents, before withdrawing on September 4.
“In the town of Kobo on September 9, Tigrayan forces summarily executed a total of 23 people in four separate incidents, witnesses said. The killings were in apparent retaliation for attacks by farmers on advancing Tigrayan forces earlier that day.”
One man who fled fled Kobo in mid-September told dpa by phone he personally knew of one such incident on the outskirts of the town, in which three people were killed by Tigrayan fighters.
HRW called for “an independent international inquiry into alleged war crimes in Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions.”
Tigray officials have not so far responded to the HRW report but have previously denied their forces have committed atrocities.
The multi-ethnic state of Ethiopia with its almost 115 million inhabitants is threatening to disintegrate as a result of fighting that has been going on for a year. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 with the promise to reform Ethiopia. He ousted the TPLF, which had dominated the country for 25 years.
In the autumn of 2020, the TPLF held independent elections in its stronghold, the northern region of Tigray, and attacked a military base shortly afterwards. The government then launched a military offensive with the help of neighbouring Eritrea.
The most recent conflict is feared to have caused the deaths of tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
Both sides in the conflict are accused of carrying out killings, rights abuses and other forms of violence.
