The Environmental Cost of the War on Tigray

May 7, 2021 | Teklehaymanot G. Weldemichel
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It has been more than  six months since the Ethiopian regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Laureate, declared a full-scale war on the Tigray region, one of the member states of the Federation. Despite initial claims by the regime that it is a “law enforcement operation” of minimal impact on civilians, reports now reveal that the impacts of the war on civilians and the region in general are unprecedented. Multiple reports indicate that farms, industries, homes, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructures throughout the region have to a large degree been looted and destroyed by Eritrean and Ethiopian armies as well as ethnic militia from the neighbouring Amhara region loyal to Mr. Abiy Ahmed Ali’s regime. Tens of thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed.