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An elderly woman who fled to the city of Axum in the Tigray region of Ethiopia to seek safety sits with her head bandaged after being wounded during an attack on the city, November 30, 2020. (AP Photo)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) Bodies with gunshot wounds lay in the streets for days in Ethiopia’s holiest city. At night, residents listened in horror as hyenas fed on the corpses of people they knew. But they were forbidden from burying their dead by the invading Eritrean soldiers.
Those memories haunt a deacon at the country’s most sacred Ethiopian Orthodox church in Axum, where local faithful believe the ancient Ark of the Covenant is housed. As Ethiopia’s Tigray region slowly resumes telephone service after three months of conflict, the deacon and other witnesses gave The Associated Press a detailed account of what might be Tigray’s deadliest massacre.
Hundreds of worshippers reportedly armed with cobbles and sticks rushed to protect the sacred Ark of the Covenant as brutal fighting in Ethiopia neared the church where it is said to be secured.
As skirmishes broke out between soldiers and rebel fighters in the holy city of Axum, in the Tigray region, worshippers rushed to defend the Church of St Mary of Zion.
A local university lecturer claimed to The Times that some people were killed after running to support priests and others protecting the ark at the church.
The ark is described in the Bible as an ornate wooden casket which houses stone tablets etched with the Ten Commandments. It is said to have been in the Axum church since the 1960s.
UN: Tigray malnutrition very critical , response woefully poor | Human Rights News aljazeera.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from aljazeera.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NAIROBI: The UN says Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region faces a “very critical malnutrition situation” as vast rural areas where many people fled during three months of fighting remain out of reach of aid. The UN humanitarian agency also said in a new report that Ethiopian defense forces continue to occupy a hospital in the town of Abi Adi, “preventing up to 500,000 people