Bodies Found in River Between Ethiopia's Tigray and Sudan

NAIROBI - A Sudanese official says local authorities in Kassala province have found around 50 bodies, apparently people fleeing the war in neighboring Ethiopia's Tigray region, floating in the river between the countries over the past week, some with gunshot wounds or their hands bound. 

The official said Monday a forensic investigation is needed to determine the causes of death. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.  Two Ethiopian health workers in the Sudan border community of Hamdayet confirmed seeing the bodies found in the Setit River, known in Ethiopia as the Tekeze. The river flows through some of the most troubled areas of the nine-month conflict in Tigray, where ethnic Tigrayans have accused Ethiopian and allied forces of atrocities while battling Tigray forces.  Tewodros Tefera, a surgeon who fled the nearby Tigray city of Humera to Sudan, told The Associated Press that two of the bodies were found Monday, one a man with his hands bound and the other a woman with a chest wound. Fellow refugees have buried at least 10 other bodies, he said.