Think the war in Ukraine is the world’s deadliest conflict? Think again | Magdalene Abraha

A brutal war in East Africa is estimated to have claimed more than 600,000 lives. This Christmas, families like mine don't even know if our loved ones are alive

A war is raging that has cost more than an estimated 600,000 lives. Its victims have borne witness to shocking human rights abuses and, tragically, civilians have been deliberately targeted. Tens of thousands of women have been raped. It has lasted two years and is happening today, yet the chances are you don't even know where it is. Though it is far deadlier than the war in Ukraine, the western media have mostly ignored it.

On 4 November 2020, when Ethiopia's prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, a Nobel Peace prize winner, announced a military offensive in the disputed territory of Tigray, it was difficult to imagine how catastrophic it would become. A population of more than 6 million people, under a government blockade, has been pushed towards mass starvation - with young children dying of acute malnutrition. Tigray has become a centre of weaponised rape and an internet blackout that has added to the psychological torture faced by victims, and by families such as mine desperate to hear from our loved ones.

Magdalene Abraha is a writer and publisher at Jacaranda Books

This article was amended on 28 December 2022. The number estimated to have died in the war is at least 600,000 people. An earlier version said it was up to 600,000 lives

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