Three Ethiopian opposition parties claimed that at least 52,000 people have died in the northern Tigray region since a conflict started there in November.
An additional 3 million people have been forced to flee their homes and more depend on food aid, the Tigray Independence Party, Great Tigray National Congress and Salsay Weyane Tigray said in a joint statement on Tuesday.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made a statement after the claim was published, saying that enemies of state are spreading misinformation, but without specifically citing the opposition’s statement. The parties’ estimate of the death toll has not been independently verified.
The leader of the Tigray Indepence Party, Girmay Berhe, did not immediately answer his phone when he asked for comment.
“Towns and villages have been devastated by blind artillery shelling, our health and education facilities have been looted and destroyed,” the groups said in the email statement. They called on the Ethiopian government to end the war, start negotiations and ensure access for humanitarian aid.
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Ethiopian federal forces began a raid on Tigray on Nov. 4, overthrowing the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which had opposed Abiy since coming to power in April 2018. Although the government announced on November 28 it would end hostilities. , has deposed the region’s leader, Debretsion Gebremichael vowed to keep fighting.
Neither the federal authorities nor the TPLF have imposed a death toll since the fighting began.
Reports of civilian casualties are “unsubstantiated and suffer from unfortunate political motives,” the government-led Ethiopian State of Emergency Fact Check said on its Twitter account on Wednesday. Redwan Hussein, spokesman for the Ethiopian Emergency Task Force, and Abiy’s spokeswoman, Billene Seyoum, did not immediately respond to text messages asking for comment.
“The figure for those in need of assistance is higher than the estimated population of Tigray, so it is likely that the number of civilian casualties will also be significantly inflated by the three parties,” said William Davison, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group.
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(Updates with government comment in the eighth paragraph)