Tigray rebel forces killed more than 200 civilians in a village in Amhara region, residents and local officials said. The killings in a village called Chenna Teklehaymanot of Dabat woreda took place during the rebel forces’ five days presence in the area, said Sewnet Wubalem, the local administrator in Dabat. The victims were killed on September 3-4 by the fleeing rebel forces and among the victims were children, women, older people and deacons, according to the residents and officials.

The rebels pillaged the village and killed people, Atirsaw Kindew, a resident of Chenna villages told the VOA. He said that when the Tigray forces entered to the village they were going around telling people they were only after Prosperity Party, not ordinary people but when they were defeated by the government forces and started fleeing, they started going door-to-door massacring people, he said.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it was alarmed by the large number of bodies found in Chenna kebele, and investigation by law enforcement was still underway to confirm the numbers and the identities of victims. The Commission said it would deploy a mission to the area as a part of its on-going human rights investigations.