National Geographic - USA (2021-11)

Himora

May

Cadera

AL

FASHAGA

SU

DA

N

ER

IT

RE

A

SU

DA

N

ET

HI

OP

IA

427

660

confirmed

civilian

fatalities

20 km

20 mi

ETHIOPIA

AFRICA

ASIA

the existence of Ethiopia itself. Some two million
people in Tigray, a third of the state’s population,
have been displaced. Millions need emergency
food assistance, and thousands have been killed.
Yet the full extent of the catastrophe is unknown
because the federal government has shut down
communications and limited access to Tigray.
By mid-May, when the photographs in this
story were taken, the situation had become dire.
Most routes north and south from Mekele were
closed to journalists and humanitarian aid. A
road west was lined with burned-out tanks and
looted ambulances stripped of engines and
wheels. Patches of towering eucalyptus trees
gave way to rocky, untilled fields—and check-
point after checkpoint manned by Ethiopian
troops. Soldiers from neighboring Eritrea saun-
tered casually through villages. Men, women,
and children—civilians—were terrified and
traumatized, and praying for those who hadn’t
yet made it to Mekele or another relatively safe
place. Over and over again, people mentioned
countless others who were still in hiding. They
feared what was to come.

THE FAULT LINES of this conflict stretch back
decades through multiple regimes, several bro-
ken alliances, and one perpetually contentious
question: How should Ethiopia’s more than 80
distinct ethnic groups be united into a single,
stable country?
“The real political issue in the country is
between those who support the unitary state
and those who support the multinational fed-
eration that guarantees self-rule for the ethnic
groups,” says Tsega Etefa, a Colgate University
professor born in Ethiopia who has researched
ethnic conflict in the region.
For much of the 20th century, political power
was centralized. The last emperor of Ethiopia,
Haile Selassie, ruled for 44 years until he was
overthrown in 1974 by a group of military officers
called the Derg. Led by Mengistu Haile Mariam,
the Derg quickly established an authoritarian
regime marked by brutal oppression. The oppo-
sition, which sprung up almost immediately,
rose from ethnic groups, including the Tigray-
ans, who chafed under the dictatorial control.
In 1975 the TPLF was founded as a militia, and
it grew to be an especially effective one.
Mengistu’s attempts to crush the TPLF and
other rebel groups resulted in a situation rem-
iniscent of what’s happening today: a bloody

Crisis in

Tigray

Ethiopia—a landlocked,

drought-susceptible country

with a fragile federal struc-

ture—is plagued by a civil

war between the national

government and the Tigray

People’s Liberation Front

(TPLF). Early gains last year

by the national army, aided

by Eritrean soldiers and

Amhara militias, came with

reports of ethnic cleansing

and sexual violence. Now

famine is looming—and

Tigrayans are on the offensive.

Tracking the violence

Communication blackouts

and limited access make it

difficult to document the

conflict. The Armed Conflict

Location & Event Data Project

(ACLED)* provides a glimpse

into the intense fighting and

death toll in Tigray.

Each square represents

10 confirmed fatalities

Violence against civilians

Battle or remote violence

(events involving at least two

armed and organized actors)

Closed or damaged

bridge or airstrip

Disputed area

Frequency of violent events

from Nov. 2020–July 2021

Fewer More

events events

8888 NNATIOATIONNAAL GL GEOEOGGRARAPHPHICIC