Gira Aras massacre

Gira Aras massacre
Gira Aras massacre
Part of Tigray War
	Gira Aras Gira Aras Location of Gira Aras in Tigray (Ethiopia)
Location	Gira Aras (Tigrinya: ግራዓረስ), Tigray Region, Ethiopia
Date	22 April 2021
Target	Tigrayans
Attack type	Mass killing; Ethnic cleansing;
Deaths	12 civilians
Perpetrators	Ethiopian National Defence Force

The Gira Aras massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Gira Aras (Tigrinya: ግራዓረስ) in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, around 22 April 2021.^[1] Gira Aras is a village that belongs to woreda Hawzen, Eastern zone of Tigray.

Massacre[edit]

The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) killed twelve civilians in Gira Aras (Eastern Tigray) on 22 April 2021.^[1]

Typical massacres committed by Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers in the Tigray war are (1) revenge when they lose a battle; (2) to terrorise and extract information about whereabouts of TPLF leaders; (3) murder of suspected family members of TDF fighters; and (4) terrorising the Tigray society as a whole such as in case of mass killings in churches.^{[citation needed]}

Perpetrators[edit]

Witnesses reported the perpetrators of this massacre as being Ethiopian soldiers.^[2]

Victims[edit]

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation” mentions twelve victims of this massacre,^[1] eleven of whom have been identified.^[2]

Reactions[edit]

The “Tigray: Atlas of the humanitarian situation”,^[1] that documented this massacre received international media attention, particularly regarding its Annex A, that lists massacres in the Tigray War.^[3]^[4]^[5]

After months of denial by the Ethiopian authorities that massacres occurred in Tigray, a joint investigation by OHCHR and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission was announced in March 2021.^[6]