Soldiers with the Ethiopian National Defence Force travel on a truck near Aykel, in the Amhara region, on Feb. 27.MICHELE SPATARI/Getty Images
A 25,000-seat soccer stadium in northwestern Ethiopia, built seven years ago in a burst of optimism for the country’s sporting future, has been commandeered by the army as a site for long-range artillery guns that have killed and injured civilians across the region, an analysis of satellite imagery and witness testimony has revealed.
The deadly transformation of Woldia Stadium has become a symbol of the war consuming the Amhara region, pitting the army against a rebel militia known as the Fano – “volunteer fighters.” The rebels, who control much of Amhara’s rural territory, are one of several insurgencies threatening to split Ethiopia apart.
More than a dozen residents in Woldia said the city’s stadium, located on the edge of town, has been converted into an Ethiopian army base where artillery guns indiscriminately fire at rebel-held villages many kilometres away.Eight residents said they’ve witnessed fire, smoke and flashes in the sky from the stadium, consistent with howitzer blasts.
Other witnesses described deaths and horrific injuries – including leg amputations – inflicted on villagers by the artillery in recent weeks.
An Ethiopian-born billionaire, Mohammed Al-Amoudi, spent US$22-million in 2017 to build the state-of-the-art stadium, complete with a track, basketball court, volleyball field, VIP lounge and Olympic-sized swimming pool. He envisioned a future of international sports events and tourism in his hometown, about 500 kilometres north of the capital, Addis Ababa.
Three years after the stadium’s construction, northern Ethiopia erupted into war, first in the Tigray region, in 2020, and then in Amhara after a Tigrayan ceasefire was negotiated.
Satellite imagery from June 19, shows Woldia Stadium with Ethiopian Army trucks and artillery guns stationed around it.Google, 2024/ Airbus/Supplied
After 20 months of fighting, the rebels are entrenched across rural districts, sometimes raiding towns, while federal soldiers are largely holed up in cities and launching attacks from there.
The artillery guns were deployed at the stadium at some point in the first half of this year. Satellite imagery uploaded to Google Earth in June showed that dozens of army trucks were deployed in the stadium’s parking lot and at least two artillery guns were stationed near its main gate. The stadium was in disarray, with rotting grass and disintegrating roof tiles.
Wim Zwijnenburg, a weapons expert who leads a disarmament project at peace organization PAX in the Netherlands, confirmed that two Soviet-designed 122-millimetre D-30 howitzers are visible in the images. The weapons have a range of 15 kilometres and potentially 20 kilometres with rocket-assisted ammunition.
“They’re identifiable based on the barrel length and [the fact] that they are already in the Ethiopian army arsenal,” Mr. Zwijnenburg said after The Globe and Mail asked him to examine the satellite imagery.
Two witnesses said the army fired an artillery barrage at the rebel-held village of Kalim, about 10 kilometres north of Woldia, on Nov. 11. The shelling killed at least four people and injured at least five others, they said.
“I witnessed some of the wounded arrive in Woldia,” said Sileshi, a businessman in the city.
“There were five of them, including a woman. Some could limp or walk, but others had to be bandaged and carried to the hospital here. One was bleeding badly and appeared to have suffered a leg amputation in the shelling. I’m not sure if he survived.”
The Globe is not disclosing Sileshi’s full name, or the full names of other witnesses, out of concern for their safety.
Bereket, a high school student from Kalim, said he saw the burials of four victims of the Nov. 11 incident. “My cousin is among the dead and he was just a farmer,” he said. “It was the third or fourth time the village was shelled this year.”
Open-source satellite data from the U.S.-based Fire Information for Resource Management System shows that a fire erupted in Kalim on Nov. 11. It also shows a series of other fires between 10 and 20 kilometres from Woldia on several other days that month, including days when residents reported artillery attacks from the stadium.
Another barrage hit the village of Koserete Michael, about 15 kilometres south of the stadium, on Nov. 21. “We heard the explosions and ran outside,” said Marishet, a student who was in the village.
Members of the Ethiopian community take part in a protest calling for the cessation of drone strikes on civilian populations in the Amhara region, in Washington, on Dec. 17, 2023.J. Countess/Getty Images
“My aunt, uncle, cousin and I saw people screaming with horrific injuries like amputations. We ran towards the forest with many other people to try and escape the range of the bombs. We stayed hidden for a few hours. I believe people were killed, but I didn’t stay long enough to find out.”
The Amhara Association of America, which documents abuses in Amhara, said it recorded at least one death and numerous injuries in the village that day.
“Thousands of residents have been displaced from their homes as a result of deliberate shelling into towns [near Woldia],” said the association’s chairman, Tewodrose Tirfe.
Ethiopian government spokespeople did not reply to messages seeking comment on the artillery guns at the stadium. In the past, military and government officials have denied reports of abuses such as civilian deaths, alleging that such reports are disinformation spread by “enemies” who seek to tarnish the government’s name.
The Fano fighters were allied with the Ethiopian government during the Tigray war from 2020 to 2022, but they had a falling-out after the ceasefire. The Fano accused the government of sidelining them in the negotiations and jeopardizing Amhara’s interests.
Last year, the government ordered all regional militias to disband. The Fano refused and launched an offensive, capturing several cities. The army recaptured the cities within weeks and declared the region pacified, but fighting has continued since then.
Amhara residents have accused the army of frequent drone attacks and other atrocities, including a massacre in the city of Merawi last January. An earlier investigation by The Globedocumented the killing of as many as 100 civiliansby soldiers in Merawi. The Amhara Association of America says it has recorded 53 drone attacks that have killed more than 550 civilians.
With a report from Geoffrey York in Johannesburg
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