Three Ethiopian opposition parties have claimed that at least 52,000 people have died in the northern Tigray region since a conflict began there in November.
Another 3 million have been forced to flee their homes and even more are dependent on food aid, the Tigray Independence Party, the Grand Tigray National Congress and Salsay Weyane Tigray said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed issued a statement after the claim was published, saying the state’s enemies were spreading misinformation, but without specifically quoting the opposition’s statement. The parties’ estimate of the number of deaths was not independently verified.
Tigray Independece Party leader Girmay Berhe did not immediately answer the phone when called for comment.
“Cities and villages have been demolished by blind artillery bombardment, our health and education facilities have been looted and destroyed,” the groups said in an email. They called on the Ethiopian government to end the war, start negotiations and secure access to humanitarian aid.
The UN says 20,000 refugees are missing after the destruction of Ethiopian camps
Ethiopian federal troops began an incursion into Tigray on November 4 and overthrew the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has been in opposition to Abiy since coming to power in April 2018. Although the government announced a cessation of hostilities on November 28. , the ousted leader of the region, Debretsion Gebremichael, has he vowed to continue the fight.
Neither the federal authorities nor the TPLF have claimed a number of deaths since the fighting began.
Reports of civilian casualties are “unfounded and suffer from unfortunate political motives,” the government-led Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check said on its Twitter account on Wednesday. Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the Ethiopian Emergency Task Force, and Abiy’s spokesman Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to text messages requesting comments.
“The figure for those in need of help is higher than Tigray’s estimated population, so the number of civilian deaths is also likely to be significantly inflated by the three sides,” said William Davison, senior analyst at International Crisis Group.
The fate of the emerging economic giant is drawn to the peacemaker who chose war
(Updates with government comments in the eighth paragraph)