In case you missed it, there have been increasing reports of genocide from ongoing conflict in Northern Ethiopia. This report from CNN is just one.
Nairobi, Kenya at least 600 civilians were killed during an attack in northern Ethiopia in early November because of their ethnicity, a state-appointed human rights commission said Tuesday.
In its preliminary report into the November 9 massacre at Mai-Kadra, a town in the Tigray region, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) saidan informal group of Tigrayan 
youths, aided by local officials and police, “carried out door-to-door” raids, killing hundreds they identified as ethnic “Amharas and Wolkait.”
The EHRC, which describes itself as an “independent national” institution, accused the group, along with local Tigrayan militia and police security, of committing “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” before they retreated from the advance of the Ethiopian Defense Forces (EDF).
“The unimaginably atrocious crime committed against civilians for no reason other than their ethnicity is heartbreaking,” said EHRC chief Daniel Bekele in a statement. “It is now an urgent priority that victims are provided redress and rehabilitation, and that perpetrators involved directly or indirectly at all levels are held to account before the law.”
The attackers destroyed and looted homes while using knives, machetes, hatchets and ropes to butcher or strangle victims, the EHRC said. Witnesses also told the EHRC that other residents of ethnic Tigrayan origin saved lives by hiding people in their homes, churches and fields
Witnesses to the massacre told CNN and Amnesty International that Tigrayan officials were behind the attack and that they targeted ethnic Amharas. The region’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), have not responded to CNN for comment.
There have also been reports of atrocities committed by federal forces since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered air strikes and a ground offensive against Tigray’s rulers for defying his authority. Tigrayan leaders have accused federal forces of killing innocent civilians while targeting churches and homes.
The federal government has denied targeting civilians previously. It condemned the attack at Mai-Kadra in a statement on Tuesday, blaming the TPLF.
CNN has been unable to verify claims from either party due to a communications blackout. Internet, mobile phones and landlines are all down, making it difficult to contact those accused in the preliminary report.
The conflict threatens to undo years of progress in Africa’s second most populous country and the restive Horn of Africa region.
