"The Dansha mayor…
he kept telling us that we need to move
that we don’t belong to stay here."
"They took all my cattle
burnt my sorghum (crops) and house
and told us
this is not our region.
They said our land is east of the Tekeze River."
"They kept saying every night...
'We will kill you.'
'Go out.'
'Go out of the area.'"
The fighting followed years of growing tensions
between the Ethiopian federal government
led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
and leaders of Tigray's ruling political party.
Government forces were soon joined by security forces from the Amhara region
which neighbors Tigray
as well as soldiers from the country of Eritrea.
The conflict has resulted in numerous abuses on both sides
and millions of people displaced.
Initially
heavy fighting between the Ethiopian military
with their allies against Tigrayan fighters
took place around Western Tigray.
Electricity, banking and telecommunications
including the internet and phone lines to Tigray were cut off.
Residents described heavy shelling and gunfire
as Ethiopian and allied forces entered their towns.
"When the Ethiopian and Amhara forces entered the town
people were panicked
and began running to the farms.
They started killing people
no warning
just shooting.
They shot at people running."
Soon
an interim administration for Western Tigray
was established by forces
from the neighboring Amhara region.
An administration
hostile to the presence of Tigrayans.
"Papers said Tigrayans need to leave the town immediately.
They were thrown everywhere
so when we woke up in the morning
you would see it on your door
or on the way to church
everywhere."
"I was in Dansha Town where I have a hairdressing shop.
Six militia came to loot my shop.
Two of them raped me.
They said...
'You Tigrayan
you should disappear from the land west of Tekeze.'
'You are evil and we are purifying your blood.'"
"In the first 2 months of their control
they looted everything in the town.
All the crops
they took our cows
we had nothing to eat
everything we had was taken."
"The militia would even write on the houses
that belonged to Tigrayans.
'This is ours
this is Amhara house.'
They told us not to speak in Tigrinya."
Meanwhile
as reports of atrocities became widespread
Ethiopian authorities limited access to Western Tigray
for international journalists
and human rights and humanitarian groups.
In Adi Goshu town
in January 2021
Amhara Special Forces and militias
rounded up around 60 residents
transported them to the Tekeze bridge
and shot them.
"The Amhara Special Forces told us to disembark…
They lined us up in rows
cocked their guns
and sprayed us with bullets.
We fell in the ditch below.
After that
they said...
'Tigrayans don’t die easily.'
'Shoot again.'"
As abuses in Western Tigray continued
hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans were forced to flee their homes.
Some fled to Sudan
while many more were forcibly displaced to other parts of Tigray
in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign.
"After seeing this and other incidents
I thought:
What are we expecting?
Are we waiting for them to kill all of us?
Why don’t we cross the Tekeze River
while we still have our lives?"
"We couldn't access the toilets
they did not give us any food or water.
A lot of people were falling ill.
There were some people that died from torture.
They tie your hands and feet
they hit you in your testicles
your head and your chest
all of us went through it."
Tigrayans in Western Tigray
continue to be subjected to torture
arbitrary detention
and other grave human rights abuses.
"All I want is peace.
All I want to do is to be able to speak Tigrinya freely
my mother tongue.
I am a beekeeper
and all I want to do is work."