'The sound keeps coming back': children maimed in Ethiopia's Tigray clashes

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - In recent days 34 people wounded by “heavy artillery, drones, gunfire and explosives have arrived at our hospital," 23 of them children. One person had died.— AFP pic

ADDIS ABABA, Oct 17 — Lying on a hospital bed, rolled-up blankets propping up the remains of her legs, 10-year-old double-amputee Iyerusalem is among scores of civilians wounded in northern Ethiopia after fighting erupted last month.

“I was in our compound with my older brother and our horse when we were hit. My brother and the horse died,” she told AFP from Ayder Comprehensive Specialised Hospital in Mekelle, capital of the northern Tigray state.

Fighting broke out between the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces on September 23. The Ethiopian army pushed back the assault and seized Mekelle without a fight this weekend after TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city.

Many of the wounded live in remote villages hours from the hospital along difficult roads where there has been fighting and shelling.

“Right now, my amputated legs hurt badly,” said Iyerusalem, who comes from Qarsole village in Alamata district, south of Mekelle.

“If I get medical treatment and can walk again, I want to go back to school,” she said, as her father Hiluf watched anxiously.

In the same hospital lies 12-year-old Hana, her face torn apart by a blast that broke her leg, and killed her mother and brother.

“First I heard a loud explosion, and the whole house shook. I was scared and did not even know what had happened. I could not open my eyes or my mouth,” she said.

“The sound of the explosion keeps coming back in my head.”

In a nearby room were Betelhem, 10, who suffered a broken leg, and her sister Melet, 6, who was injured in the neck. Their pregnant mother was killed by heavy artillery.

“The bomb hit our house directly, all these people have died, but no one is being held responsible. There is no government,” said Haftom, the father of the family, a 39-year-old shopkeeper.

‘Doing our best’ 

The hospital’s emergency co-ordinator Birhanu Hailemariam said many patients had come from southern Tigray.

In recent days 34 people wounded by “heavy artillery, drones, gunfire and explosives have arrived at our hospital,” he said, 23 of them children. One person had died.

Staff lacked basic equipment and medicine, including anaesthesia, he said, “but we are doing our best to treat everyone.”

While he said the situation was not as bad as the 2020-22 Tigray war, which killed an estimated 600,000 according to the African Union, there was an atmosphere of fear permeating the hospital.

Whether it is the rebels or the government “both are hurting people,” said another doctor, who asked for anonymity.

“We do not know who carried out the bombardment. It is war,” said Iyerusalem’s father, Hiluf, avoiding blaming either the TPLF or the federal forces out of fear of reprisals.

As his daughter stared impassively ahead, Hiluf pleaded for aid and assistance to help her recovery.

“I do not want to fight with anyone,” he said. “Let there be peace for us.” — AFP