Mai Kadra massacre
| Mai Kadra massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Tigray War | |
Funeral service for the massacre in Mai Kadra | |
Location of Mai Kadra in Tigray and Ethiopia | |
| Location | Mai Kadra, Tigray Region, Ethiopia |
| Date | 9–10 November 2020 (4 years ago) |
| Target | Locals and migrant workers (mostly Amhara per OHCHR, Amnesty, EHRCO and Agence France-Presse; mostly Amhara per EHRC; Tigrayans per Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Financial Times) ) |
Attack type | Mass killing, ethnic cleansing, war crime, massacre |
| Deaths | 600 to 1,100 (varying estimates) |
| Perpetrators |
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The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre and ethnic cleansing carried out during the Tigray War on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in Welkait (a disputed area between the Amhara and Tigray Regions) in northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. Responsibility was attributed to a pro-TPLF youth group and forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the EHRC-OHCHR Tigray Investigation, preliminary investigations by Amnesty International, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), and interviews conducted in Mai Kadra by Agence France-Presse. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and EHRC reported that at least 5 Tigrayans were killed in Mai Kadra by Amhara militas such as Fano in retaliation. Tigrayan refugees in Sudan told multiple news outlets that Tigrayans in Mai Kadra were targeted by either Amhara militias, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), or both.
The killings took place amidst an armed conflict between the TPLF-led regional government and the federal government. The killings began before the ENDF troops entered the town. The victims have been described as civilians, many of whom were day laborers hailing from neighboring Amhara Region.
The total death toll remains unclear, but according to Amnesty International, "likely hundreds" were killed. Two videos, which were analyzed by Amnesty International to prove that the massacre had taken place, show dozens of corpses with injuries caused by bladed weapons, like machetes. According to the EHRC, which described the massacre as a "widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population" at least 600 people were killed; EHRCO counted 1100 deaths. Most of the victims were Amhara according to Amnesty International, OHCHR, EHRC, and EHRCO investigations, but there were Tigrayan victims as well.