Civilians in Ethiopia conflict describe horror scenes: ‘bodies dismembered by explosions’
- Two-week conflict rocks Horn of Africa region
- UN says ‘full-scale’ humanitarian crisis unfolding
For Ethiopians who escaped intense fighting in their northern homeland of Tigray by fleeing into Sudan, they are now safe; but the terrifying nightmare of what they witnessed haunts them.
“I saw bodies dismembered by the explosions,” said Ganet Gazerdier, a 75-year-old sitting alone in the dust at Um Raquba refugee camp in the east of the country, newly opened to cope with a sudden influx into Sudan of over 27,000 people fleeing air strikes, artillery barrages and massacres in Ethiopia.
“Other bodies were rotting, lying on the road, murdered with a knife”, she added.
Distraught at having been forced to flee their homes, traumatised by becoming separated from family members in the mad rush, and horrified after witnessing killings, refugees wander as if dazed in the camp.
To escape, Messah Geidi split from his wife and four-year-old son – and he cannot forgive himself.
“I don’t know where they are, and if they are still alive,” he said.