Maikadra Massacre Perpetrators May Have Fled to Sudan, Says Government

Samri youth group that are said to have involved in the Maikadra massacre may have fled to Sudan as refugees

Ambassador Redwan Hussien (Photo : ENA)

Borkena

November 30, 2020 

The Ethiopian government announced on Monday that a youth group that was actively involved in the Maikadra massacre may have fled to Sudan as a refugee.

“We have a suspicion that there may be youth who took part in the Maikadra massacre among those who fled to Sudan [as a refugee],” said Ambassador Redwan Hussein who is also the secretariat of the Ethiopia Emergency Fact Check Task Force.

It was in an interview with Reuters that he said so. He confirmed that up to 43,000 Ethiopians have crossed the Sudan region following what the Ethiopian government calls a law enforcement operation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

A report by Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the massacre in Maikadra indicated that an organized ethnic Tigray youth group under the name “Samri ” key actor during the massacre against innocent and unarmed civilians.

More than 600 people were brutally massacred according to the EHRC preliminary report. However, the number of victims is believed to be much higher than what was initially indicated as dozens of mass graves are being uncovered.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government said last week that it is working on returning the refugees to their places in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. 

The military operation against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was finalized last Saturday after taking control of Mekelle city from where the TPLF leaders were leading a series of violence aimed at destabilizing the country.

TPLF leaders deployed as many as 250,000 trained militia and special forces for the war against the Federal government of Ethiopia. Many of the regiments were annihilated in several war fronts, according to a briefing by the Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian Defense Force.

TPLF leaders and supporters contest the report that Tigray region special force and youth carried out the massacre in Maikadra and call for an investigation to it although organizations like Amnesty International have verified it.