Guh massacre


The Guh massacre was a mass extrajudicial killing that took place in Guh in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 8 May 2021. Guh is a village that belongs to tabiya Debre Selam, woreda Hawzen, Eastern zone of Tigray. It is a small rural settlement on steep slopes below the fifth-century rock-hewn church of Abuna Yemata.

Massacre

The Eritrean Defence Forces killed 19 civilians in Guh on 8 May 2021. Most of the victims in the attack were women and young children.

Perpetrators

The Guardian reported the perpetrators of this massacre as being Eritrean soldiers. Witnesses mention that one female Eritrean soldier was leading the massacre.

Victims

The Guardian mentions 19 victims of this massacre, 16 of whom have been identified.

Reactions

The Guardian stated that this additional report of a 'cold-blooded' killing of unarmed civilians, including young children, will add to 'international pressure' on Ethiopian authorities for a ceasefire to stem such abuses and allow humanitarian aid into Tigray.
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.
While the Ethiopian government promised that Eritrean troops would be pulled out of Tigray, the Eritrean government denies any participation in warfare or massacres in Tigray.