Ethiopia Orthodox leader blasts crimes amounting to 'genocide' in Tigray
Ethiopia Orthodox Church leader Abune Mathias has warned that atrocities amounting to genocide are being committed in the country's restive northern Tigray region.
“Nowadays, all over Ethiopia in general and in Tigray in particular, many barbarisms have been conducted,” the 80-year-old Orthodox Church leader said in a video message recorded last month that was posted on the Twitter account of an American charity worker on Friday.
“Genocide is being committed now,” he continued, without specifying who he blamed for carrying out the crimes in the Tigray region neighboring Eritrea.
The Christian leader, however, did describe the atrocities committed there as bombings, rapes, and destruction of churches.
Dennis Wadley, who heads a US-based church group called Bridge of Hope International, posted the video on his Twitter account, saying Mathias "wanted the world to know the truth regarding what was happening in Tigray."
“Abune Mathias did not write this out or prepare. He sat for about 10 seconds in silence and then spoke for just over 14 minutes as you can see in the video,” Wadley said.
Wadley said he had asked the Christian leader to post the video, which he had recorded while on a visit to Ethiopia when he returned to the United States.
Since the outbreak of war in Tigray, the safety of the residents of the region has been a source of concern for the international community.
Last month, the United Nations Security Council expressed “deep concern” about allegations of human rights violations in Tigray, including reports of sexual violence against women and girls.
Fighting erupted between Ethiopian government forces and the local Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November last year.
The conflict started after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into the region as part of a retaliatory response to alleged attacks on the military.
The TPLF forces were driven out of the region’s capital city Mekelle, and the local government collapsed with many leaders fleeing.
The conflict has left thousands of casualties and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes.
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