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Tigrayan refugees describe massacres, say Ethiopia’s ‘aim is to erase Tigray’

TIGRAYAN refugees in Sudan have accused Ethiopian authorities of genocide, saying in addition to mass killing and rape, there is a deliberate attempt to erase Tigrayan identity.

Nine refugees have provided new identity cards they were issued following the seizure and destruction of their previous documents, which featured the Tigrinya language. The new cards display only the Amharic language.

Refugee Seid Mussa Omar said he kept the new ID card to “show the world ... the aim is to erase Tigray.” Tigray is the northernmost Ethiopian state and home to seven million people.

Refugees have reported massacres of hundreds of civilians by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, as well as the deliberate destruction of crops. Another refugee in Sudan, Goitom Hagos, described seeing thousands of Tigrayans loaded onto lorries and taken away. Women refugees told the Associated Press that they had been subjected to gang rape for speaking in the Tigrinya language.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed this week justified ongoing military operations in Tigray, saying troops were involved in a “tedious” guerrilla war against separatists.

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