NAIROBI (Somaliguardian) – Ethiopia’s leaders are planning to exterminate the entire population in the war-wrecked Tigray region after Ethiopian defense forces and troops from neighboring Eritrea began a large-scale offensive in November of last year, EU special envoy said on Friday.
“When I met the Ethiopian leaders in February they really used this kind of language, that they are going to wipe out the Tigrayans for 100 years and so forth,” EU special envoy Pekka Haavisto said.
He added that the language “for me referred to very serious human rights atrocities and crimes as well”
Haavisto’s remarks come following appalling human rights abuses, including mass killings of civilians, gang-rapes of women and destruction of property carried out by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops in Tigray region.
EU special envoy visited Addis Ababa in February to try to dissuade Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed from pursuing a war to cleanse northern Ethiopia of Tigrayan rebels and urge him to provide aid organizations unfettered access to the region. He now calls for international action to stop an ethnic cleansing campaign launched by Ethiopian authorities.
“We have to react because it looks like ethnic cleansing,” he added.
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