National Geographic - USA (2022-01)

(Maropa) #1

THE SOLDIERS


TOLD ME,


‘THE TIGRAYAN


RACE MUST BE


ELIMINATED.’ ”
—Another Tigrayan
woman who was
raped by soldiers

A political dispute
between Ethiopian
Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed and the Tigray
People’s Liberation
Front, which dominated
the federal govern-
ment for decades, has
exploded into war. It’s
created a humanitarian
crisis that threatens
the lives of millions of
people—especially in
the state of Tigray—and
the existence of Ethio-
pia itself. Ethiopian
and Eritrean forces,
as well as militias from
the bordering state
of Amhara, invaded
Tigray in November
2020, cutting off
aid and targeting
civil ians with particular
brutality. This woman
says she was raped
by 15 Eritrean soldiers
in one week, and she
doesn’t know where
her children are: “This
is doomsday for me.”

Tigray, Ethiopia PHOTOGRAPH BY LYNSEY ADDARIO


93
Free download pdf