2020 massacre in Ethiopia, as part of the Tigray War
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Axum massacre
Part of Tigray War
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
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Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
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Location of the massacre
Location
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, Axum, Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Date
28 November and 15 December or 17–20 December 2020
Target
Tigrayans
Attack type
Massacre
Deaths
minimum extrajudicial killings
345 (HRW[1])
400 (Amnesty[2])
800 (AP[3])
Perpetrators
Eritrean Defence Forces[a]
View on Axum before the massacre
The Axum massacre (alternatively spelled Aksum, also called the Maryam Ts'iyon massacre) was a massacre of about 100–800 civilians that took place in Axum during the Tigray War.[4] The main part of the massacre occurred on the afternoon and evening of 28 November 2020, continuing on 29 November, with smaller numbers of extrajudicial killings taking place earlier, starting from 19 November and during the weeks following the 28–29 November weekend.[2][5] The massacre was attributed to the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) by Amnesty International,[2] Associated Press,[3] the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC),[6] Human Rights Watch (HRW)[1] and Adigrat University lecturer Getu Mak.
The main massacre consisted of killings by shooting by the EDF throughout Axum.[2][6] The bodies were brought to churches, including the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion (Maryam Ts'iyon), for burial. Killings are also alleged to have previously taken place within the church. Due to a tight communication blockade, news of the massacre was only revealed internationally in early January 2021 after survivors escaped to safe locations.[7][2] The EHRC visited Axum from 27 February to 5 March 2021.[6]
^ ab"Ethiopia: Eritrean Forces Massacre Tigray Civilians". Human Rights Watch. 5 March 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
^ abcde"The massacre in Axum". Amnesty International. 26 February 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 February 2021. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
^ abAnna, Cara (18 February 2021). "'Horrible': Witnesses recall massacre in Ethiopian holy city". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 18 February 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
^"A bid 'to exterminate us': Tigrayans recount massacre by Eritrean troops". Radio France Internationale. AFP. 3 March 2021.
^Malagardis, Maria (11 February 2021). "Ethiopie : 'A Aksoum, j'ai aidé à transporter plus de 300 morts'" [Ethiopia: 'In Axum, I helped transport more than 300 dead bodies']. Libération (in French). Archived from the original on 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
^ abc"Investigation into Grave Human Rights Violations in Aksum - Preliminary Findings". Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. 24 March 2021.
^Plaut, Martin (11 January 2021). "Massacre at Tigray's Mariam of Zion cathedral in Aksum". Eritrea Hub. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
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The Axummassacre (alternatively spelled Aksum, also called the Maryam Ts'iyon massacre) was a massacre of about 100–800 civilians that took place in...
Axum, also spelled Aksum (pronounced: /ˈɑːkˈsuːm/ ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It...
Ancient Greek: Ἀξωμίτης, romanized: Aksōmítēs) also known as the Kingdom of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from...
Caleb, was his given name. On both his coins and inscriptions he left at Axum, as well as Ethiopian hagiographical sources and king lists, he refers to...
of the attack. It is observed during Axummassacre in the Tigray War where 750 people reportedly killed in Axum Tsion feast day celebrated on 30 November...
The church is located in the town of Axum, Tigray Region in northern Ethiopia, near the grounds of Obelisks of Axum. The original church is believed to...
its 26 February 2021 report on the Axummassacre, Amnesty International described the indiscriminate shelling of Axum by the ENDF and EDF in January 2021...
Tigray Region, including systematic, wide-scale looting in Axum following the Axummassacre in late November 2020. After several weeks of Ethiopian government...
Ethiopian government's dismissal of Amnesty International's report on the Axummassacre rather than on the methods and content of the report itself. During...
the Axummassacre of about 720 to 800 civilians. The Eritrean government stated that it was angered by Amnesty International's report on the massacre, calling...
The Axummassacre in November 2020, when 100–800 civilians in Axum were killed by the Eritrean forces, was commonly cited as one example. The massacre was...
report on" attacks against Tigrayans during the massacre. The EHRC's March 2021 report on the Axummassacre "provoked outcry among Ethiopian and Eritrean...
in Sudan, reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces carried out a massacre in Axum that killed between 100 and 800 civilians. These reports have been...
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of the Red Sea, local people massacred the whole crew, sparing the two boys, who were taken as slaves to the King of Axum. The two boys soon gained the...
from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2021. "The massacre in Axum". Amnesty International. 26 February 2021. Archived (PDF) from the...
Retrieved 2 March 2021. Anna, Cara (3 March 2021). "Ethiopia now calls Axummassacre allegations 'credible'". Associated Press. Archived from the original...
('Aḥbāsh) in Sabaic and as Ḥabasha in Arabic. In the 15th-century Ge'ez Book of Axum, the name is ascribed to a legendary individual called Ityopp'is. He was...
Aksumite currency was coinage produced and used within the Kingdom of Aksum (or Axum) centered in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia. Its mintages were issued and...
Ezana of Axum is said to have launched several military campaigns and destroyed the Kingdom of Kush 525 Conquest of the Himyarite Kingdom by Axum 570–578...
the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021. "The massacre in Axum". Amnesty International. 26 February 2021. Archived (PDF) from the...
to convert to Judaism, and news of the massacres rapidly spread across the region. In response to the massacres of Christians by Dhū Nuwās, the Byzantine...
The Zalambessa massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Zalambessa in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 13 November...
Gebremedhin - BBC Tigrinya, 6 September 2020) Amnesty report describes Axummassacre in Ethiopia's Tigray (by Cara Anna, Associated Press, 26 February 2021)...
Global Information
Eritrean Defence Forces[a]