Under the title "Gang Rape and Sexual Violence: A Woman Tells Her Tragedy in Tigray," Sky News Arabia published an article about the ongoing reports revealing the atrocities committed in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, the latest of which is the tragedy of a woman who was subjected to rape for 11 days. The Ethiopian mother, aged 27 and whose name has not been disclosed, endured 11 days of torment, during which she was raped by 23 soldiers in Tigray. The British newspaper "Daily Mail" reported her saying that her attackers threatened to kill her and committed heinous acts during the assaults.
She indicated that soldiers stopped the bus she was on with her children as they were traveling from Mekele to the city of Adigrat, where she was taken to a camp. After the ordeal she suffered, the soldiers released her, leaving her in a remote and isolated area. Villagers found her unconscious and took her to a nearby hospital, where doctors reported she was suffering from internal bleeding, serious injuries, and a broken leg, and that hard objects such as iron nails had to be removed from her body.
The use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in Tigray has escalated in recent weeks. UN aid chief Mark Lowcock revealed that girls as young as eight years old have been raped, and women have been subjected to gang rapes over several days. Lowcock confirmed that most of the rapes were committed by men in military uniforms, directing accusations at all warring parties.
Additionally, the chief public health officer of the interim administration appointed by the government in Tigray disclosed that there have been at least 829 cases of sexual assault reported in five hospitals since the conflict began.
The tragedies of war in Tigray are intertwined with military developments in the area, as there is no evidence of Eritrean military forces withdrawing from the region, according to UN official Lowcock, who accused those forces and other armed groups such as the Amhara militias of committing atrocities against the region's residents. Meanwhile, Washington, through its UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, called on the Eritrean government to immediately withdraw its forces from Ethiopia, expressing shock at reports of human rights violations in the region.
