Weapon contamination in Ethiopia wrecks limbs and dreams
Al Jazeera
Unexploded ordnance in Tigray continues to pose a serious threat to children, who are often the most affected.
On his way home from the market, Birhane noticed a group of younger kids kicking a piece of scrap metal. He recognised them from when they had gone to school together before COVID-19. That was also before the devastating armed conflict between the Ethiopian defence forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front shattered his hopes of getting a complete education.
Overcoming the disappointment of quitting school early, the 16-year-old turned to helping his father run the family’s farm and sell produce at the market. He was still determined to realise his ambition of “improving himself and supporting his family” despite the violence and hardship that have racked his community.
Coming closer to the children, Birhane realised with a flash of horror that the object they were playing with was not a simple piece of scrap metal, but an explosive.
He yelled at the children, telling them to stop. When they did not listen, Birhane pushed several of them to the ground and grabbed the object to throw it away. It exploded in his hands.
Birhane lost a leg and the fingers on both hands in the explosion.
