Thread by @cnni

CNN has investigated a gruesome video appearing to show Ethiopian soldiers carrying out extrajudicial executions of unarmed men in Tigray, Ethiopia. This is what we found: cnn.it/39DgIQp

The footage was initially broadcast in early March by Tigrai Media House (TMH), a pro-Tigray TV channel based in the US.

TMH told CNN it was sent to them by a soldier turned whistleblower involved in the mass killing. cnn.it/39DgIQpcnn

Through forensic frame-by-frame analysis of the footage — corroborated by Amnesty International’s digital verification and 3D modeling experts — CNN was able to geolocate the video to a rugged clifftop three miles south of Mahibere Dego, in central Tigray cnn.it/39DgIQp

CNN interviewed 10 people who said they had lost loved ones in Mahibere Dego, or knew some of the young men who were taken away by soldiers and are believed to have been killed near the town. cnn.it/39DgIQp

“It is not far from our small town and village. The place is called Ela.”

The family members and residents CNN spoke with said they recognized the location shown in the video based on the terrain and vegetation. cnn.it/39DgIQp

One man said he believed he could recognize his brother in the video. He said he last saw his brother -- wearing the same clothes -- when he was taken by soldiers from their mother’s house in Mahibere Dego on January 15. cnn.it/39DgIQpcnn

In freeze-frames of the footage, soldiers can be seen wearing uniforms with embroidered Ethiopian national flag patches and black “Ethiopian Army” stitching.

The uniforms appear to match those worn by the Ethiopian National Defense Force. cnn.it/39DgIQp

The mass killing near Mahibere Dego is one of several to have been reported over the course of Ethiopia’s five-month-old conflict during which thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed, raped and abused. cnn.it/39DgIQp

The Ethiopian government and its interim administration in Tigray did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the video and accusations that its forces abducted scores of men from the Mahibere Dego area. cnn.it/39DgIQpcnn

UPDATE: The Ethiopian government said Friday that “social media posts and claims cannot be taken as evidence, regardless of whether Western media report it or not” in response to CNN’s investigation. cnn.it/31DsZzW