Witnesses allege Eritrean abuses during Ethiopia peace talks
Associated PressNAIROBI, Kenya — Even as Ethiopia’s warring sides attend their first formal peace talks in a devastating two-year conflict, witnesses in the country’s embattled Tigray region tell The Associated Press that forces from neighboring Eritrea are killing some civilians and looting as they and allied Ethiopian forces head for the regional capital. In Shire, a staffer with an international humanitarian organization said Eritrean forces were looting vehicles and household items, in some cases loading stolen goods onto camels they brought with them. A leader of the Tigray forces, Tadesse Werede, said Thursday the Ethiopian government should ensure that Eritrean forces leave Tigray for any peace effort to be sustainable. Holocaust Memorial Museum warned this week of a “heightened risk of genocide,” noting “the situation has deteriorated exponentially as Ethiopian security forces, supported by Eritrean forces and Amhara special forces, have seized key towns and cities.” Ethiopia’s government on Friday issued an angry statement alleging “extreme slander” and said it may be “forced to weigh its options and consider its relations with some states and entities.” And Eritrea’s government in an open letter to the museum accused it of recycling defamatory accusations but acknowledged a “huge loss of life and destruction of property” in the conflict.