Thread by @TeklehaymanotG

Collective trauma of the #WarOnTigray on Tigrayan children:
The #WarOnTigray is perhaps one of the most under-reported and the bloodiest events in Africa in recent decades. Over 52,000 civilians have reportedly been killed as of last week,
washingtonpost.com/world/africa/t…

more than 60k crossed the border to Sudan for safety, over 4.5 million face starvation as their harvests are looted & destroyed by Ethiopian & Eritrean armies.

But, what is most distressing is the trauma that the war is leaving Tigrayan children with. As towns and villages across Tigray have constantly been bombed for the last 3 months, children have seen so much that will remain with them forever.

Yesterday, I managed to talk to my elder sister and her 10, 7 & 4-year-old daughters who managed to escape into a town where there is a phone connection. Listening to the stories that my sister told me, I couldn't believe that these poor little girls have seen all they did.

They used to live in Western #Tigray and when war broke out there, they somehow escaped into central Tigray where my family is from and where my parents live. But, the war followed them and our house in C. Tigray itself came under fire.

During the first rounds of fights in November, they went to a village about 3 hrs walking distance from our home, which my sister said only took them 1 hour as they had run for their lives as the rest of the villagers around them did.

When they returned a week later, most of the homes were damaged (artillery shelling and arson), crops fields &piles were burned down & everything else in the remaining houses was looted by Ethiopian & Eritrean troops. Even though fighting temporarily stopped, the area was

still controlled by Eritrean troops who shot at "everything that moves, people, dogs, livestock, birds, & whatnot". Our house was also damaged from shelling and was very difficult to stay in as it is close to where the troops were camped. My family then decided to move in with

...another family a bit off the main road. But, a few days later, another heavy fighting broke out and everybody had to move again, this time in another direction where it's deemed safer. Along with thousands of others, they trekked their way to a village called Zeben-Nege,

As they reached ZebenNege, they realized that the sounds of heavy artillery were getting closer & closer, and just before they could run away, bombs started dropping around them. She said, 14 people (mainly women and children) got killed from a single strike

& several others got injured.

Imagine a 4-year-old girl witnessing this tragedy, imagine her running for her life, imagine the many kids who got killed that day.
The shelling continued for many days after and hundreds got killed.

After many days, my family trekked back to the same very hostile place which they had left to find safety. They went through cycles of this tragic ordeal for over 100 days and who knows when and how this will end.

So many people (mainly young men) were killed in our village. Gebretsadikan Teklu Gebreyesus (in his late 40s) was shot dead outside his home while he was with his two young kids, under 10 years, and his cousin Kibrom Berhane Gidey(25 years old) who was shot, but survived.

Gebretsadkan's body was left to rot outside his house where his family still lived in.
Kibrom hasn't received any professional medical attention and still suffers from unbearable pain.

In the same neighbourhood, Sibhat Gebremichael Gebrehiwot (my childhood friend & classmate in his mid-30s) shot dead. His body was scavenged by vultures and hyenas as his family was not allowed to bury him. The sad part, his father was similarly killed by Derg army in the 1980s.

Gebremeskel Weldu Gebremariam 20, was killed with a grenade by Ethiopian troops at his home. His mother had died of health complications only two days before him and was taking care of his ailing father at the time and couldn't escape.

Gebremeskel Gebrekidan Gebrewahid, age 26, was killed (pulled by a car) by Eritrean troops at his parent's home. killed mid-January, his body still not buried family not allowed to bury him.
Birhane Gebru Weldemichel (my cousin), killed by Ethiopian troops outside his home.

Jemal Nessib, 32, shot dead in his shop by Eritrean troops.
Gebreyesus Berhane Abay (deacon, 35 years) was shot dead by Eritrean troops outside a church.

Toweldebirhan Weldekidan, killed by the Ethiopian army in November. Only one foot found as his body was scavenged by hyena.

In Tsiet, near Adwa, where almost a whole neighbourhood was wiped out by Eritrean forces.
Teklu Berhe was killed with his two sons killed while threshing outside their home. Mekonnen Berhe (Teklu’s younger brother) & his two sons were similarly killed. Their homes & crops burned

Zongi, another nearby village was heavily impacted and people that I talked to said that they have lost count of the people who're killed. Indiscriminate artillery shillings killed the elderly, children, & women. Young men were targeted through house-to-house executions.

I found out that two brothers who are close relatives of my father, Tadesse Yohannes Guangul and Berhe Yohannes Guangul (elderly brothers) were killed by Ethiopian troops.
Priest Gebreyohannes and Hailay Gebre were murdered by Ethiopian troops in the same neighborhood

The list of names goes on, and this is only about civilians. Hills and plains are filled with bodies of dead soldiers, dogs, livestock, and anything that moves.

But, what is most troubling is what this means for children and the other surviving civilians in general. The lasting trauma of witnessing horrors of killed relatives, of seeing dead bodies everywhere, of the never-ending shelling, destruction, looting, & constant harassments.

Even more troubling, there is no end in sight. The @UN #UNSC must intervene to stop this immediately. The UN must establish demand independent investigation into war crimes. #UNSCActNow
@UNICEF @antonioguterres #AllowAccessToTigray

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