Casualties of the Tigray war

Precise casualty figures of the Tigray war are uncertain. According to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium, the combined impact of wartime violence and famine and a lack of medical access had killed an estimated 162,000–378,000 people, with other reported estimates reaching numbers as high as 600,000 killed.^[1][2] The scale of the death and destruction led The New York Times to describe it in November 2022 as "one of the world’s bloodiest contemporary conflicts."^[3]

15-year-old in Mekelle who lost their eye after being shot by a sniper.

Breakdown

True casualties statistics have been difficult to determine, largely due to deliberate information blackouts in the region.^[4] Journalists have noted the difficulty they face attempting to report on the war, as the Ethiopian government has taken steps to reduce press access to the Tigray Region, facing the risk of getting killed or imprisoned.^[5][6] It is also been reported that there is an unwillingness from either side to fully confirm precise numbers.^[7][8]

While Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed initially spoke of no civilian casualties in the early days of the war, by February 2021, he described the level of death in Tigray as "hav[ing] caused much distress for me personally.”^[9]

Breakdown	Estimated & claimed casualties	Time period	Source
Civilians	52,000+ killed	3 November 2020 – 2 February 2021	Tigrayan opposition parties[9]
Military (all sides)	100,000+ killed	3 November 2020 – 16 February 2021	TPLF[10][11][12]
	100,000 killed	September 2022 – October 2022	Kjetil Tronvoll[13]
TPLF allied forces	3,400+ killed, 1,300 wounded	3 November 2020 – c. September 2021[a]	ENDF[7]
Ethiopian and Eritrean allied forces	9,273 killed, 6,473 wounded	3 November 2020 – c. September 2021[a]	TPLF[7]
	90,000+ Ethiopian casualties[b]	September 2022	Alex de Waal[14]
Total deaths	162,000–378,000 killed	3 November 2020 – 4 November 2022	Ghent University[1][2]
	600,000 killed	3 November 2020 – 4 November 2022	Olusegun Obasanjo[15]

Massacres

A mass grave of civilians in Tigray

Numerous reports have been made of extrajudicial killings and summary executions (in many cases, targeting civilians) since the war began.^[16][17][18]

Terminology:

• ENDF - Ethiopian National Defense Forces

• EDF - Eritrean Defense Forces

• TDF - Tigrayan Defense Forces

• Fano - Amhara militia

Date	Place	Number	Perpetrators	Sources	Notes
4-10 November 2020	Shiglil	7	Government-allied militias	[19]
9-10 November 2020	Humera	54	Fano	[20][21][22]	related: EHRC report[23]
5-19 November 2020	Dansha	25		[23]	Civilians were caught in the crossfire between warring parties
9–10 November 2020	Mai Kadra	600[16] or 1100[18]	Tigrayan Samri kebele youths[24][16][18] or Fano militias[25][26][27]		victim ethnicity and perpetrators disputed
13-17 November 2020	Zalambessa	86	EDF	[28]	Killed mostly in house-to-house searches after shelling the town
14–17 November 2020	Bisober	27-31	TDF & ENDF	[23][29][30]	Shelling crossfire and house-to-house search
17 November 2020	Shire	200	EDF	[31]	Elders say people were "slaughtered like chicken"
c. 19 November 2020	Hitsats	305	TDF[32][33] or EDF[34][35][36][33]		Perpetrators disputed. EEPA claims 300 Eritrean refugees executed by EDF, HRW claims EDF, refugees claim local Tigrayan militia or EDF, Ethiopia claims TPLF; five humanitarian workers killed in battle[37][38][39]
21 November 2020	Idaga Hamus	Dozens	EDF	[40]	after capture of town
c. 21 November 2020	Adigrat	12	EDF	[40][41]	after capture of town
27-28 November 2020	Wukro	220	EDF, ENDF	[42]	killing spree accompanying the massive looting of the town
28–29 November 2020	Axum	750	EDF	initial body counts;[43][44] in-depth[45][46]	Daily killings preceded and followed the main massacre.
30 November 2020	Dengelat	80–150	EDF	[47][48]	at Maryam Dengelat church
late November/early December 2020	Irob	52	EDF	[49]	50 men, 2 women
1 December 2020	Mekelle	27	ENDF	[50]
4–7 December 2020	Ziban Gedena	150-300	EDF	[51]	Also: 150 houses burnt, 90% of livestock killed, harvests burnt and stolen
13 December 2020	Kola Tembien	20	ENDF	[52]	Soldiers kept terrorising civilians in Tembien in an effort to get the location of the leader of the TPLF.
c. 23 December 2020	Hawzen	up to 70	EDF	[53]	70 bodies recognised by witness
5 January 2021	Gu'itelo	29	EDF	[54]	at Medhane-Alem church
8 January 2021	Bora	70–187	ENDF	[55][56]: 31	Killing spree after a battle with TDF
9 January 2021	Ari Giyergis	12	EDF	[57]	12 young deacons taken out of the church and executed
mid-January 2021	Mahbere Dego	50–74	ENDF (Amharic speaking)	[58][59]	People were executed and thrown off a cliff, according to geolocated video evidence.
January 2021	Irob	187	EDF	[60]	includes 30 Coptic priests, 50 women, 100 children
1 February 2021	Kerebera	5	ENDF & EDF	[57]	five priests were killed in the village church
10 February 2021	Wukro	18	EDF	[61]	killed in street protests
10 February 2021	Kola Tembien	182	ENDF, EDF	[62]	house-to-house killing; access to bodies permitted on 15 Feb, by which time many were partially eaten by wildlife
few days before 14 February 2021	Adwa + Shire	30	EDF	[61]	killed in street protests
15 Feb	Cheli	180	EDF	[63]
c. 19 February 2021	Khisret, Gijet	100+	EDF	[64]
22 February 2021	Debrekerbe	9	EDF	[65]
23 February 2021	May Weyni	80	EDF	[63]
1-3 March 2021	Humera	250	Amhara militia, Fano, EDF	[66]
11 March 2021	Enkikumel, near Shire	100+	ENDF/EDF	[67][68]	Reports suggest that ENDF/EDF soldiers went door to door and kidnapped civilians in order to force militias to give up their weapons and surrender. Once the militias surrendered, they and the remaining hostages were all executed. All victims were reportedly young men.
14 March 2021	Wukro	3-5	ENDF/EDF	[69]	retaliation for attacks by TDF
23 March 2021	Inda Teka Tesfay between Mekelle and Adigrat	4	ENDF	[70]	Médecins Sans Frontières staff observed the execution of at least four men by the ENDF. They were taken off a public bus and executed.
24 March 2021	Grizana, near Samre	11-18	EDF	[71][72]
30 March - 5 April 2021	Wukro Maray	~161	EDF & ENDF	[73]	As revenge for lost battles
1 or 3 April 2021	May Atsmi, Tisha and Haddush Addi, Tahtay Maychew district	~140	EDF	[73]	As revenge for lost battles
5 April 2021	Debrekerbe in Zana district	116	EDF	[65]
5 April 2021	Haruka kebele, Afar Region	30+	Afar Regional Special Forces	[74]
8 April 2021	Freweyni	7	EDF	[73]
8 April 2021	Hawzen	30+	EDF	[73]
8 April 2021	Around Wukro Maray, between Shire and Axum	200+	ENDF and EDF	[73]
12 April 2021	Adwa, Central Tigray	3–9	EDF	[75][76]
12 April 2021	village near Axum	11	presumably EDF	[77]
12 April 2021	Hugumburda, Southern Tigray	15	Amhara militias and ENDF	[77]
c. 12 April 2021	Wukro Maray town near Aksum	300+	EDF	[77]
29 April 2021	Idaga Hibret	20	EDF	[78]
30 April 2021	(Bure, Amhara and Danchu Kebelle)	21	EDF	[78]	During the attacks, some civilians had reportedly been burnt alive.
8 May 2021	Guh village, Hawzien, Eastern Tigray	19	EDF	[79][80]
12 June 2021	Menji and Guyya villages near the town of Abi-Adi Tembien.	16	EDF and ENDF	[81]	Reports indicate that cluster bombs and phosphorus gas was used in the shelling of both villages.
22 June 2021	Togoga village	50-80	ENDF	[82]	50-80 civilians were killed in an airstrike on the village's market area. Reports indicate that the ENDF blocked ambulances from attending to the dead and wounded in the village, possibly increasing the casualty toll.
17-19 July 2021	Yalo	20	TDF or ENDF	[83]	Victims of shelling
~3 August 2021	Humera and elsewhere along the Tekezé River	95	Amhara militia, Fano, EDF	[84]	The victims had been shot with their hands tied
5 August 2021	Galikoma, Afar Region	107-200	TDF	[85][86][87]	Indiscriminate killing by TDF
31 August–4 September 2021	Chenna (near Dabat)	120-200	TDF	[88][89][90]	Extrajudicial killings; Using civilians as human shields
9 September 2021	Kobo	600	TDF	[91][92][93][90]	Extrajudicial killings
30 October 2021	Kombolcha, Amhara region	100+	TDF	[94][95][96]	Extrajudicial killings, looting and ransacking WFP and UN trucks and aid essentials, private and public properties.
8 October 2021	Mekelle	3	ENDF	[97]	Airstrike killing civilians, all children
21 November 2021	Prison camp near Mirab Abaya, SNNPR	83 (+20 missing)	Ethiopian police	[98]	Massacre of imprisoned Tigrayan soldiers; according to The Washington Post, the prisoners in question had not engaged in combat against the government.
6 January 2022	Mai Aini refugee camp	3	Unknown	[99][100]	Airstrike killing Eritrean refugees, including 2 children
7 January 2022	Dedebit	56-59	ENDF	[101][102][103][104][105]	Airstrike hitting a camp for internally displaced people; has been called a war crime by the UN and Human Rights Watch
10–11 January 2022	Mai Tsebri and Hiwane	19	ENDF	[106]	Drone strike killing civilians
23 February 2022	Chenna and Kobo	24+	TDF	[107]	Extrajudicial killings
23 February 2022	Berhale	5+	Unknown; suspected to be the TDF	[108][109]	Extrajudicial killings of Eritrean refugees
26 August 2022	Mekelle	4	ENDF	[110]	Airstrike killing civilians, including 2 children
6–12 September 2022	Sheraro	40+	EDF	[111][112]	Extrajudicial killings of civilians, including Eritrean refugees
	Shimblina	46	ENDF/EDF	[113]
13–14 September 2022	Mekelle	10	Unclear; suspected to be the ENDF	[114][115]	Airstrike killing civilians,
13–15 September 2022	Kobo	17+	TDF	[116]	Systemic torture and killings of civilians
4 October 2022	Adi Daero, La'ilay Adiyabo	50-65+	ENDF	[117][118]	Airstrike hitting a school sheltering internally displaced people
24 October 2022	Egela district, Tigray	96	EDF	[119]	Extrajudicial killings of civilians
26 October 2022	Adwa	60+	EDF	[120][121]	Extrajudicial killings of civilians
17–25 November 2022	Eastern Zone, Tigray	111	EDF	[122][123]	Kidnapping, extrajudicial killings of civilians; 241 houses destroyed and overall "widespread looting."
Mid December 2022	Central Zone, Tigray	550+	EDF	[124][125]	Extrajudicial killings and mass rapes.

Civilian deaths

Mass graves in Maikadra and funeral services

One of the civilian victims of the Togoga airstrike

As of 2 February 2021^[update], the highest estimate of civilian deaths in the Tigray War is that given by three of the opposition parties from the 2020 Tigray regional election: National Congress of Great Tigray, Tigray Independence Party, and Salsay Woyane Tigray, which were allocated 15 seats in September 2020, prior to the war.^[126] The three parties' statement, published on 2 February 2021, estimated that at least 52,000 civilians had been killed by the ENDF, the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF), Amhara militias, and other forces allied with the ENDF.^[127] Hailu Kebede, head of foreign affairs in Salsay Woyane Tigray, said that the three parties' collection method was to try to register data from witnesses in every administrative area of Tigray Region. He stated that "thousands" of names were already recorded.^[9] 2022 estimates from Belgium’s Ghent University put the number of war fatalities at 300,000 to 500,000, including 50,000 to 100,000 from fighting, 150,000 to 200,000 due to famine, and 100,000 from lack of medical attention.^[2]

Military deaths

Samwarit, 4, lies on her hospital bed recovering from knife wounds in her leg and a gunshot in her hand, according to her father, in Mekelle, Tigray, June 4, 2021.

2020

An ENDF soldier present at the attack on the Adigrat base of the ENDF Northern Command during the 4 November Northern Command attacks, Bulcha, stated to BBC News that there were 32 ENDF fatalities and 100 TPLF fatalities.^[128]

Based on its 14–18 November 2020 visit and a visit starting 10 January 2021 to the Tigray Region, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) reported a Humera hospital employee's count of the war deaths as 92, including military (ENDF and TPLF) and civilian deaths.^[23]

An estimated 760 troops (ENDF and TPLF) were killed during fighting in the Raya region.^[129]

The TPLF claimed on 24 November to have killed thousands of ENDF and Eritrean in three fronts: Adwa, Idagahamus and Ray-Mokoni. They also claimed to have killed almost an entire Ethiopian division during fighting at Raya.^[130] This division is the 21st mechanised division.^[131]

On 7 December 2020 heavy fighting broke out between AMISOM troops and Ethiopian troops in Hiran region, Somalia, when Ethiopian troops tried to disarm Tigrayan troops. In total 21 Tigrayan soldiers and 20 Ethiopian soldiers were killed.^[132]

2022

In September 2022, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces launched a massive "joint" offensive against rebels in Tigray. The Ethiopian army reportedly suffered 90,000 casualties in one month.^[133]

Notes

1. As reported by the BBC; a specific timeframe was not given. Local correspondents to the agency suggested these figures could be from then-recent battles, and not the war as a whole.
2. According to de Waal, while not all 90,000 casualties were deaths, "many of the wounded will die" due to the poor condition of medical services.