Eritrean soldiers fighting in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia killed hundreds of people in Aksum, mainly on two days in November, witnesses said.
The mass murders on 28 and 29 November could constitute a crime against humanity, Amnesty International said in a report.
An eyewitness told the BBC how the bodies remained unburied in the streets for days, with many being eaten by hyenas.
Ethiopia and Eritrea, which officially deny that Eritrean soldiers are in Tigray, made no comment.
The Ethiopian human rights commission says the report must be “taken seriously” and is investigating the allegations.
The conflict broke out on November 4, 2020, when the Ethiopian government launched an offensive to overthrow the region’s ruling party, TPLF, after its fighters captured federal military bases in Tigray.
The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, told parliament on November 30 that “no civilians were killed” during the operation.
But witnesses recounted how that day they began to bury some of the bodies of unarmed civilians killed by Eritrean soldiers – many of them boys and men shot in the streets or during attacks from house to house.
The Amnesty report has high-resolution satellite images from December 13, showing the disturbed land consistent with recent tombs in two churches in Aksum, an ancient city considered sacred by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
A communications blackout and restricted access to Tigray meant that reports of what happened in the conflict were slow to emerge.
In Aksum, the electricity and telephone networks stopped working on the first day of the conflict.
How was Aksum captured?
The bombing of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces west of Aksum began on Thursday, November 19, according to city sources.
“This attack continued for five hours and was uninterrupted. People who were in churches, cafes, hotels and their homes died. There was no retaliation from any armed forces in the city – it literally targeted civilians,” a public official in Aksum told the BBC.
Amnesty gathered similar and multiple testimonies that describe the continued bombing of civilians that night.
Once in control of the city, soldiers, often identified as Eritreans, looked for TPLF soldiers and militias or “anyone with a gun,” Amnesty said.
“There have been many … murders from house to house,” said a woman to the rights group.
There is compelling evidence that Ethiopian and Eritrean troops committed “several war crimes in their offensive to take control of Aksum,” says Amnesty ‘s Deprose Muchena.
What triggered the deaths?
The following week, testimonies say that Ethiopian troops were mainly in Aksum – the Eritreans advanced eastwards, towards the city of Adwa.
A witness told the BBC how the Ethiopian military plundered banks in the city at that time.
Eritrean forces reportedly returned a week later. The fighting on Sunday, November 28, was triggered by an attack on poorly armed pro-TPLF fighters, according to the Amnesty report.
Between 50 and 80 Aksum men aimed for a position on Eritrea on a hill overlooking the city in the morning.
A 26-year-old man who participated in the attack told Amnesty: “We wanted to protect our city, so we tried to defend it especially from Eritrean soldiers … They knew how to shoot and had radios, communications … I had no weapon, just a piece stick. “
How did Eritrean troops react?
It is unclear how long the fight lasted, but that afternoon, trucks and tanks from Eritrea went to Aksum, Amnesty reports.
Witnesses say the Eritrean soldiers rioted, shooting unarmed civilians and boys who were on the streets – continuing into the night.
More about the Tigray conflict:
A man in his 20s told Amnesty about the murders on the city’s main street: “I was on the second floor of a building and saw, through the window, the Eritreans killing young people on the street.”
The soldiers, identified as Eritreans not only because of their uniforms and license plates, but also because of the languages they spoke (Arabic and an Eritrean dialect of Tigrinya), started searching from house to house.
“I would say it was in retaliation,” a young man told the BBC. “They killed all the men they met. If you opened your door and they found a man, they killed him, if you didn’t, they shot your gate by force.”
He was hiding in a nightclub and witnessed a man who was found and killed by Eritrean soldiers begging for his life: “He was saying to them: ‘I am a civilian, I am a banker.'”
Another man told Amnesty that he saw six execution-style dead men outside his home near the Abnet Hotel the next day, 29 November.
“They lined them up and shot in the back. Two of them I knew. They are from my neighborhood… They asked: ‘Where is your gun’ and replied: ‘We have no weapons, we are civilians. ‘”
How many people were killed?
Witnesses say that, at first, Eritrean soldiers did not let anyone approach the bodies in the streets – and would shoot anyone who did.
One woman, whose 29- and 14-year-old nephews were killed, said the roads “were full of corpses”.
Amnesty says that after the intervention of Ethiopian elders and soldiers, the burials began over several days, with most funerals taking place on November 30, after people brought the bodies to churches – usually 10 at a time loaded in carts pulled by horses or donkeys.
At the Abnet Hotel, the public official who spoke to the BBC said that some bodies had not been removed for four days.
“The bodies that were scattered around the Abnet Hotel and Seattle Cinema were eaten by hyenas. We found only bones. We buried bones.
“I can say that about 800 civilians were killed in Aksum.”
This account is repeated by a church deacon who told the Associated Press that many bodies were fed by hyenas.
He collected the victims’ identity cards and helped with burials in mass graves and also believes that about 800 people were killed that weekend.
The 41 survivors and witnesses interviewed by Amnesty International provided the names of more than 200 people they knew who were killed.
What happened after the burials?
Witnesses say Eritrean soldiers participated in looting that, after the massacre and the flight of many people from the city, became widespread and systematic.
The university, private homes, hotels, hospitals, grain stores, garages, banks, DIY stores, supermarkets, bakeries and other stores were allegedly targeted.
One man told Amnesty how Ethiopian soldiers failed to stop the Eritreans from plundering their brother’s home.
“They took the TV, a jeep, the refrigerator, six mattresses, all the groceries and cooking oil, butter, teff flour [Ethiopia’s staple food], kitchen cabinets, clothes, beers in the fridge, the water pump and the laptop. “
The young man who spoke to the BBC said he knew of 15 vehicles stolen from businessmen in the city.
This had a devastating impact on those who stayed in Aksum, leaving them with little food and medicine to survive, Amnesty says.
Witnesses say the theft of water pumps meant that residents had to drink from the river.
Why is Aksum sacred?
It is said to be the birthplace of the biblical queen of Sheba, who traveled to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon.
They had a son – Menelik I – who is said to have brought the Ark of the Covenant to Aksum, which is believed to contain the 10 commandments given to Moses by God.
He is constantly under surveillance at the Nossa Senhora Maria de Sião Church in the city and no one can see him.
A major religious celebration is usually held in the church on November 30, attracting pilgrims from all over Ethiopia and around the world, but was canceled last year amid the conflict.
The BBC interviewed official said Eritrean troops went to church on 3 December “terrorizing priests and forcing them to give them the gold and silver cross”.
But he said that deacons and other young men went to protect the ark.
“It was a huge riot. All men and women fought against them. They shot and killed some, but we are happy because we have not failed to protect our treasures.”