New Video of Ethiopia Massacre Shows Soldiers Passing Phone Around to Document Their Executions of Unarmed Men

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A few scattered human bones lay on the rocky ground, along with a broken skull and several half-burned identification cards.

That is all the villagers could find, six months after Ethiopian troops rounded up their loved ones and shot them at point-blank range, throwing the bodies off a rocky hillside deep in the mountains of central Tigray in Ethiopia.

An April 2021 CNN investigation, in collaboration with Amnesty International, examined video clips of the January massacre and used geolocation techniques to verify the video was filmed on a ridge near Mahibere Dego in January 2021. The investigation revealed at the time that at least 11 unarmed men were executed, and 39 others were unaccounted for.

CNN was sent the gruesome footage in March this year by a pro-Tigray media organization, the Tigrai Media House (TMH). TMH told CNN at the time that the video was filmed on a mobile phone by an Ethiopian army soldier turned whistleblower involved in the mass killing.

An additional longer video clip of the massacre has now been shared with CNN by TMH, revealing new details about the atrocity and the soldiers behind it.

CNN used geolocation techniques to determine the extended footage was also filmed at the ridge near Mahibere Dego. A voice at the end of the new clip identifies the Ethiopian soldier filming the video as “Fafi.” He also reveals his military brigade and division.

In the extended video seen by CNN, Fafi swaps the phone with another soldier, takes the gun and shoots. The phone is then swapped back as others clamor to be filmed executing the captives, brazenly documenting their crimes.

This extended footage has all the hallmarks of a trophy video and yet — despite the evidence — the Ethiopian Prime Minister’s Office dismissed the findings of CNN’s original investigation saying, “social media posts and claims cannot be taken as evidence.”

Six months after the attack, two people in Mahibere Dego told CNN they had collected the national identification cards of 36 people who were killed, but another 37 people remain missing, indicating the toll of the massacre could have been more than double what was initially reported.

CNN reached out to the Ethiopian government but it did not respond.

Ethiopia is under growing international pressure over a number of reported atrocities in its war-torn northern Tigray region that could amount to war crimes.

Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed since early November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a major military operation against the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), sending in national troops and militia fighters from Ethiopia’s Amhara region.

CNN has previously compiled extensive eyewitness testimony that Ethiopian soldiers and soldiers from neighboring Eritrea were perpetrating massacres, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and other abuses in the region.

Since January, families of the victims in Mahibere Dego say they have been unable to access the ridge due to the continued presence of Ethiopian troops in the area — leaving them without a way to bury their loved ones.

They thought they’d be safe at a church

But last Friday, the soldiers departed for nearby Axum, giving locals a long-awaited opportunity to search for any remains, according to nine people CNN interviewed who had visited the massacre site.

Over a period of days, family members of the victims filmed the church burials, documented evidence of bullet casings at the massacre site and took photographs of skeletal remains which they sent to CNN. We are not naming the family members who fear for their safety.

One family member told CNN that even while villagers were gathering up the remains of their loved ones, the area came under attack. Violence in Tigray has once again intensified in recent weeks after Tigrayan forces launched a renewed offensive last week.

Even after Ethiopian soldiers withdrew, the massacre site remained under attack.

“The soldiers from Axum started to bomb the area with artillery [fire] around 9-10 p.m. Everyone scattered and ran back home,” the family member said.

But the villagers refused to stay away, he said, waiting a few days to come back at night to finish what they had started.

In images too graphic to publish, it’s clear the remains were too decomposed to allow for identification of the victims — for some there were only metal belt buckles. Families said they instead relied on items of clothing and ID cards to identify their relatives.

Villagers told CNN the continued presence of soldiers in the area was an attempt to hide evidence of the killings.

Images of bullet casings found by villagers as they scoured the area for their relatives’ remains, were shared with CNN. An arms expert told CNN these would normally be used in light machine guns and assault rifles like those seen in the massacre video.

“The village couldn’t wait any longer, [they were] saying ‘we can’t get peace unless we bury them'”

CNN used geolocation to verify that the video of the bullet casings was from the same massacre site.

CNN also obtained images taken on June 21 that show bones, charred remains, clothes and ID cards at site of the attack. Some of the clothes were also seen in the original video clips investigated by CNN.

Families brought the remains they could find to Mariam Megdelawit church, a few kilometers from the massacre site, for an emotional ceremony where they prayed for justice, and to heal their loss on June 21.

Video sent to CNN by family members of the victims show the bones of victims being carried into the service in large jute bags and placed together while crowds gathered in a circle around them to mourn and weep.

“The village couldn’t wait any longer, [they were] saying ‘we can’t get peace unless we bury them,'” he said.

CNN geolocated the footage of the ceremony by matching it to satellite imagery of the area that showed the same church structure, vegetation layout, soil color and topography.

Sunlight in the footage indicates that the burials took place at approximately 9 a.m. This corresponded to the timings stored in metadata, which some of the footage retained.

Many of those targeted in the extrajudicial executions were young men of so-called “fighting age.”

One of the young men executed in the massacre was 23-year-old Alula. His brother told CNN he discovered Alula’s ID card amid the remains.

CNN first reported on Alula in April when his brothers discovered his fate while watching a TV report about the massacre. At the time, another one of Alula’s brothers told CNN it was hard to accept.

Though the family says they have been unable to find his remains, Alula’s ID card is enough, they say, to give them some closure.

Source

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#TogogaMassacre | ‘Like A Hell’: Survivors Recall Aftermath of Airstrike by Ethiopia’s Military

❖ Most of the victims were women and children, said a doctor

❖ The military said the airstrike targeted Tigray fighters dressed in civilian clothes who had gathered to celebrate Martyrs’ Day

Maerg was serving customers at his cafe in Ethiopia’s Tigray village of Togoga when the military airstrike occurred, filling the room with dust and bringing down debris that struck him on the head.

“Everything was covered in black smoke, it was like a hell,” he told The Associated Press by phone, recounting one of the deadliest attacks in the Tigray conflict. “There was so much blood.”

Seven people were killed in his cafe alone, and some 30 were wounded, including his sister-in-law, who suffered burns on her face, hands and legs. Outside, he said, he saw dozens of more bodies. As time passed, he watched in horror as survivors realised that Ethiopian soldiers were blocking medical aid from arriving.

“We feel very angry because a lot of lives could have been saved,” he said.

Such witness accounts are emerging after Ethiopia’s military has said it was responsible for the airstrike that struck Togoga’s busy marketplace on Tuesday, which health officials said killed at least 64 people and injured dozens more. Many died when soldiers blocked medical teams from reaching them, or from taking them to hospitals in the regional capital, Mekele, just 60 km (37 miles) away, health workers said.

The military said the airstrike targeted Tigray fighters dressed in civilian clothes who had gathered to celebrate Martyrs’ Day. But witnesses told the AP that although fighters loyal to Tigray’s former leaders had been active in the surrounding countryside days before the airstrike, armed men were not in Togoga on the day of the attack.

Most of the victims were women and children, said a doctor who treated people at the scene.

In a war that has been largely fought in the shadows, with communications and transport links often cut since fighting in Tigray began in November, the airstrike in Togoga was a rare instance of a massacre emerging almost immediately. Within minutes, one former resident had tweeted the news. Within hours, there was international condemnation.

“Reprehensible,” the United States said, as it, the United Nations and the European Union again called for a cease-fire in Tigray, where thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands now face the world’s worst famine in a decade.

Shaken survivors of the airstrike challenged the Ethiopian government’s narrative, saying only civilians had been killed.

“There were not any fighters in the marketplace, just rural people who had arrived for the market,” said Luel, a farmer who was buying clothes there when the earth shook and his leg was broken by the blast. He said he saw “around 60″ bodies on the ground. As with others interviewed, the AP is using only his first name for his safety.

Habtay, who also was shopping in the market, also said no fighters were present. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his stomach but couldn’t reach a hospital until Thursday, two days after the bombing.

“Everything was covered in dust and smoke,” he said. Helpless, he watched some survivors try to give each other first aid.

Medical care would not reach people for hours, even more than a day. Health workers told the AP they were repeatedly denied access to the Togoga by Ethiopian soldiers on the day of the attack and the following morning. One doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said soldiers shot at his ambulance when it tried to pass a checkpoint.

Yohannes, a farmer hit in the chest by a bomb fragment, said a convoy of four ambulances attempting to evacuate him and other patients to hospitals in Mekele was blocked by soldiers and ordered back to Togoga. One patient died after returning to the village, he said.

Even after reaching Mekele, six wounded survivors of the airstrike were detained en route to a hospital, a regional health official said, on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Three were later released, but the others, including a teenage boy, were held at a military barracks, the official, who described the situation as “very desperate.” It was not clear why they were detained.

The airstrike occurred at a pivotal moment in Ethiopia, a day after much of the country voted in a national election that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has promoted as part of political reforms.

But the war in Tigray, sparked in part because the national election was delayed last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has overshadowed the vote. The election itself has drawn criticism by the US and other observers who pointed to the detention or harassment of some opposition figures and deadly insecurity in parts of the country.

Ethiopia, with the airstrike, again finds itself on the defensive. It has disputed allegations that its troops have committed widespread human rights violations in Tigray — though the UN has said all sides in the war have committed them — and it asserts that aid has reached 5.2 million people in the region of 6 million.

The murder of three Doctors Without Borders staffers, announced by the aid group on Friday, brought a new round of condemnation of the atrocities in Tigray. It was not immediately clear who killed them.

Source

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Ethiopian Aircraft ‘Struck by Lightning’ in Togo (Togoga), Voodoo Elders Tried to Cleanse it of Evil Spirits

👉 ገብርኤል 👉 ማርያም 👉 ኡራኤል 👉 ጊዮርጊስ 👉 ተክለ ሐይማኖት 👉 ዮሴፍ 👉 መድኃኔ ዓለም

💭ቶጎ – ቶጎጋ

❖ መለኮታዊ ጣልቃ ገብነት ለቶጎጋው ጭፍጨፋ?❖

😈 የቩዱ አምልኮ አባ ገዳዮች፤ አውሮፕላኑ በመብረቅ የተመታው “በክፉ መናፍስት ስለቆሸሸ ነው!”

የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ አውሮፕላን በቶጎ ዋና ከተማ በሎሜ ለማረፍ ሲያሽኮቦክብ በመብረቅ በመመታቱ የተደናገጡት የቶጎ ባለሥልጣናት በአካባቢው ያሉትን ባህላዊ መሪዎች “(አባ ገዳዮች) አውሮፕላኑን ከክፉ መናፍስት ለማፅዳት” ሥነ ሥርዓቶችን እንዲያካሂዱ ጋብዘዋቸዋል።

ዋው!

☆ ቩዱ

☆ ዋቄዮ–አላህ

☆ አቴቴ

😈 ክፉ መናፍስት 😈

ኢትዮጵያ ተጠልፋለች! ኢትዮጵያን አዋረዷት! የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ መገለጫዋ ነው!

ይሄ እኮ ሌላ ትልቅ ማስጠንቀቂያ ነው! በአባ ገዳዮች መናኽሪያ በሆራ/ደብረ ዘይት በጂኒው ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ እንዲከሰከስ የተደረገውን የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ አውሮፕላን እናስታውስ።

ይሄ እኮ ትልቅ ማስጠንቀቂያ ነው! አምና ዘንዶው ግራኝ አብዮት አህመድ የኢትዮጵያ አየር መንገድ የዓለማችን ብቸኛው የኮሮና ቫይረስ አመላላሽ አየር መንገድ እንዲሆን አስገደደው፤ አሁን ደግሞ የዓለም አቀፍ ሕግን በመጣስ አየር መንገዱ የዋቄዮ–አላህ ወታደሮችን ለጭፍጨፋ ወደ ትግራይ ሲያመላልስ ታይቷል።

ከሁለት ዓመታት በፊት፤ እንዲያውም ልክ ዶ/ር ቴዎድሮስ አድሃኖም የዓለም ጤና ድርጅት ዋና ኃላፊ ሆነው ሲመረጡ ይህን ማውሳቴን አስታውሳለሁ። “ሉሲፈራውያኑ እነዚህን ትግራዋይ ለተንኮል ነው ቁልፍ በሆኑ ቦታዎች ላይ ያስቀመጧቸውና ባካችሁ የትግራይ ልጆች ከስልጣናቸው እንዲወርዱ ገፋፏቸው” ብዬ ነበር።

“አውሮፓ የኮሮና ክትባቱን ከለከለች | ኢትዮጵያውያን ግን በሰልፍ እየተወጉ ነው“ | 666 ስለ ጽዮን ዝም ላሉት?”

“ሁሉንም መጥፎ ነገር በትግራውያን ላይ ለማላከክ ታቅዷልና ትግራዋይ ወገኖቻችን እነዚህን የትግራይ ተወላጅ ግለሰቦች ከስልጣን አውርዷቸው” ለማለት ከዓመት በፊት ደፍረን ነበር፦

❖ አቡነ ማትያስን

❖ ዶ/ር ቴዎድሮስ አድሃኖምን

❖ ዶ/ር ሊያ ታደስን

❖ አቶ ተወልደ ገብረ ማርያምን

Ethiopian Airlines B787 Dreamliner aircraft has reportedly been hit by thunder lightning in Togolese capital Lome on approach to landing.

In a dramatic twist of events, authorities in Togo have invited traditional leaders in the area to perform rituals “to cleanse the aircraft of evil spirits”.

Photos circulated on social Saturday evening show a group of people dressed in traditional attires and walking right in a grounded aircraft without vetting crew at the entrance, an indication that no normal onboarding was taking place.

Verification and fact-checking tool showed that the photos were obtained and posted on Twitter Friday by Patrick Koluyu, a humanitarian actor in the township of Edison in New Jersey, the United States.

Hilarious comments

The incident which was supposed to attract sympathy has sparked hilarious reactions from netizens who reacted particularly in the aspect of involving the so-called traditional authorities in the scene.

“Someone said, Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso have the largest population of traditional African religious persons. In Burkina Faso they make about 60 percent of the population, then Muslims and Christians. So it’s not about the lightning conductor. It’s about prevailing beliefs,” another user wrote.

“I see it’s the evil spirits! Now we know why the Ethiopian Airlines has been transporting weapons and the forces of the fascist regimes of Ethiopia and Eritrea to commit the ongoing Tieggraii Genocide,” reads a reaction from another user.

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ሰቆቃ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ትግራይ | ጂሃድ በአባ ዘ-ወንጌል ማዕቢኖ ደብረሲና መስቀለ ክርስቶስ ገዳም ላይ

😈 የግራኝ አብዮት አፈቆርኪ አህዛብ ሰአራዊት እንዲህ ነው ✞ ቤተ ክርስቲያኑን ያፈራረሰው!

❖ በትግራይ አሲምባ ተራሮች ላይ የሚገኘው እንዳ መስቀለ ክርስቶስ ቤተ ክርስቲያን❖

Enda Meskel Kristos Church in the Asimba Mountains

✞✞✞[መዝሙረ ዳዊት ምዕራፍ ፻፲፱]✞✞✞

፩ በተጨነቅሁ ጊዜ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ጮኽሁ፥ ሰማኝም።

፪ ከዓመፀኛ ከንፈር ከሸንጋይም አንደበት፥ አቤቱ፥ ነፍሴን አድናት።

፫ ስለ ሽንገላ አንደበት ምንም ይሰጡሃል? ምንስ ይጨምሩልሃል?

፬ እንደ በረሃ እንጨት ፍም የኃያላን ፍላጾች የተሳሉ ናቸው።

፭ መኖሪያዬ የራቀ እኔ ወዮልኝ፤ በቄዳር ድንኳኖች አደርሁ።

፮ ሰላምን ከሚጠሉ ጋር ነፍሴ ብዙ ጊዜ ኖረች።

፯ እኔ ሰላማዊ ነኝ፤ በተናገኋቸው ጊዜ ግን በከንቱ ተሰለፉብኝ።

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አሕዛብ ሁሉ ከበቡኝ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው

መክበቡንስ ከበቡኝ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው፤ ንብ ማርን እንዲከብብ ከበቡኝ፥ እሳትም በእሾህ ውስጥ እንዲነድድ ነደዱ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው።

በሰው ከመታመን ይልቅ በእግዚአብሔር መታመን ይሻላል

✞✞✞[መዝሙረ ዳዊት ምዕራፍ ፻፲፯]✞✞✞

፩ እግዚአብሔርን አመስግኑ፥ ቸር ነውና፤ ምሕረቱ ለዘላለም ናትና።

፪ ቸር እንደ ሆነ፥ ምሕረቱ ለዘላለም እንደ ሆነች የእስራኤል ቤት አሁን ይንገሩ።

፫ ቸር እንደ ሆነ፥ ምሕረቱ ለዘላለም እንደ ሆነች የአሮን ቤት አሁን ይንገሩ።

፬ ቸር እንደ ሆነ፥ ምሕረቱ ለዘላለም እንደ ሆነች እግዚአብሔርን የሚፈሩ ሁሉ አሁን ይንገሩ።

፭ በተጨነቅሁ ጊዜ እግዚአብሔርን ጠራሁት፤ ሰማኝ አሰፋልኝም።

፮ እግዚአብሔር ረዳቴ ነው፥ አልፈራም ሰው ምን ያደርገኛል?

፯ እግዚአብሔር ረዳቴ ነው፥ እኔም በጠላቶቼ ላይ አያለሁ።

፰ በሰው ከመታመን ይልቅ በእግዚአብሔር መታመን ይሻላል።

፱ በገዦች ተስፋ ከማድረግ ይልቅ በእግዚአብሔር ተስፋ ማድረግ ይሻላል።

፲ አሕዛብ ሁሉ ከበቡኝ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው፤

፲፩ መክበቡንስ ከበቡኝ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው፤

፲፪ ንብ ማርን እንዲከብብ ከበቡኝ፥ እሳትም በእሾህ ውስጥ እንዲነድድ ነደዱ፥ በእግዚአብሔርም ስም አሸነፍኋቸው።

፲፫ ገፋኸኝ፥ ለመውደቅም ተንገዳገድሁ፤ እግዚአብሔር ግን አገዘኝ።

፲፬ ኃይሌም ዝማሬዬም እግዚአብሔር ነው፥ እርሱም መድኃኒት ሆነልኝ።

፲፭ የእልልታና የመድኃኒት ድምፅ በጻድቃን ድንኳን ነው፤ የእግዚአብሔር ቀኝ ኃይልን አደረገች።

፲፮ የእግዚአብሔር ቀኝ ከፍ ከፍ አደረገችኝ፤ የእግዚአብሔር ቀኝ ኃይልን አደረገች።

፲፯ አልሞትም በሕይወት እኖራለሁ እንጂ፥ የእግዚአብሔርንም ሥራ እናገራለሁ።

፲፰ መገሠጽስ እግዚአብሔር ገሠጸኝ፤ ለሞት ግን አልሰጠኝም።

፲፱ የጽድቅን ደጆች ክፈቱልኝ፤ ወደ እነርሱ ገብቼ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰግናለሁ።

፳ ይህች የእግዚአብሔር ደጅ ናት፤ ወደ እርስዋ ጻድቃን ይገባሉ።

፳፩ ሰምተኸኛልና፥ መድኃኒትም ሆነኸኛልና አመሰግንሃለሁ።

፳፪ ግንበኞች የናቁት ድንጋይ፥ እርሱ የማዕዘን ራስ ሆነ፥

፳፫ ይህች ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ሆነች፥ ለዓይናችንም ድንቅ ናት።

፳፬ እግዚአብሔር የሠራት ቀን ይህች ናት፤ ሐሤትን እናድርግ፥ በእርስዋም ደስ ይበለን።

፳፭ አቤቱ፥ እባክህ፥ አሁን አድን፤ አቤቱ፥ እባክህ፥ አሁን አቅና።

፳፮ በእግዚአብሔር ስም የሚመጣ ቡሩክ ነው፤ ከእግዚአብሔር ቤት መረቅናችሁ።

፳፯ እግዚአብሔር አምላክ ነው፥ ለእኛም በራልን፤ እስከ መሠዊያው ቀንዶች ድረስ የበዓሉን መሥዋዕት በገመድ እሰሩት።

፳፰ አንተ አምላኬ ነህ አመሰግንህማለሁ። አንተ አምላኬ ነህ፥ ከፍ ከፍ አደርግሃለሁ፤ ሰምተኸኛልና፥ መድኃኒትም ሆነኸኛልና አመሰግንሃለሁ።

፳፱ እግዚአብሔርን አመስግኑ፥ ቸር ነውና፤ ምሕረቱ ለዘላለም ናትና።

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