Togoga airstrike; June 22, 2021. On June 22, 2021, Ethiopia bombed Togoga on a market day at around 1:00 Pm: exactly 33 years after it bombed the town of Hawzien on a market day. It was around 4:00 Pm that I heard about the airstrike. 1/n

A friend asked me to check if casualties were coming from the airstrike in Togoga. When I arrived at the emergency, I saw four ambulances queued at the entrance, packed with medical doctors and nurses, waiting for a permission letter from the Tigray regional health bureau. 2/n

After the letter arrived, the ambulances finally departed for Togoga through the Mekelle-Tembien route at around 11:30 Pm. Additional two ambulances came to take professionals to Kokolo (about 15 kilometers southwest of Mekelle) where we heard of dozens of injured people, 4/n

including children who tried to come to Ayder Hospital through a Sino truck and were returned by the military. So, two doctors, including myself, and two nurses volunteered to go there. We departed for the place using a bumpy road through Mekelle’s industrial park at 6:30 Pm. 5/n

After reaching a checkpoint of a military settlement at the industrial park, we stopped and waited for about 20 minutes, but no one approached us. We arrived at Kokolo at 7:30 Pm only to get no one there. 6/n

We had to stop and decide whether to go to Togoga or return to Mekelle. We agreed to go to the scene. When we were traveling through the dark, we all were really scared for the road was very narrow and rough, and the Ethiopian military could target us. 7/n

We had to put on soothing music in an attempt to calm ourselves. We reached Togoga at around 8:20 Pm: roughly 7 hours after the incident. We found dozens of injured people lying down at the side of the road waiting helplessly for ambulances. 8/n

Some were bleeding; others were unconscious; and others were having air hunger.Unfortunately, we did not have enough medical equipment to give even the bare minimum of emergency care. All we had were 10 bags of normal saline,10 IV cannulas,2 boxes of gloves,2 packs of gauze,9/n

and 2 plasters. We thought the four ambulances which went earlier would be there. My phone started ringing just when we arrived at the place. It was from an emergency physician from one of the four ambulances. 10/n.

He asked us if we had reached the area and how we had managed to do that since they were denied passing when they reached Romanat. I told him about the route we followed. 11//n

In the meantime, we started giving care to the victims with what we had at a school compound: hanging fluids from acacia trees. 12/n

We identified four seriously injured patients,and a nurse and I set to depart for Mekelle.Halfway,a friend from the ambulances who attempted to travel through the route we had followed called and told us to go back as they were threatening to kill anyone who tried to enter.. 13/n

Mekelle via that road. Bullets had been fired at the ambulances that tried to pass. It was a very shocking news for us. Someone had given us a phone number to call the vice president of the interim government in case we encountered problems. 14/n

We called him asking for help. He told us that it was better to either enter through Romanat or spend the night there as the military was angry and threatening everyone who tried to sneak through that road. 15/n

We decided to return and spend the night at Togoga since we did not take going back to Mekelle through Romanat as a viable option. Casualties who had gone home losing hope started to come. 16/n

We saw about 50 injured people, including a four-year-old girl. Among the victims were also 3 sisters who sustained trauma ranging from face burns to severed arms and legs. The last victim we saw during the night was at 3:00 Am, June 23, 2021. 17/n

We had to take a nap after that with empty stomachs. Other patients then started to come in the morning. We continued the laborious task of trying to give care amidst fear and anger and without enough medical supplies at hand. 18/n

We asked elderlies about the total death, and they told us that it was about 64 with more than 180 injuries. Early in the morning, we started hearing heavy shelling. We then decided to move the patients to a nearby jungle. We were really scared for our lives. 19/n

We kept calling our friends to know if there was any chance of the ambulances coming. They informed us that several attempts had been made, but no one was giving permission. The team then discussed other options, like carrying the victims in a traditional wooden stretcher.. 20/n

as some of the patients were getting critical. But a call was made telling us around lunchtime that the ambulances were given permission to pass and could arrive at any time. We wasted several hours waiting for them. 21/n

While we continued to brace for the ambulances’ arrival, we went to the market where the airstrike happened at around 2:00 Pm the next day. We saw blood stains, about 25 flattened houses, and scattered tomatoes and potatoes. 22/n

Four ambulances finally arrived at 4:00 pm, June 23, 2021, long after 27 hours of the airstrike. We returned to Mekelle after 28 hours of a daunting experience. Unfortunately, the six ambulances were not enough to take all the victims who needed medical care. 23/n

So, many were told to stay after reassuring them that the ambulances would return. Those who made it to Ayder referral hospital recovered, though with disabilities, except one who succumbed to the injury he sustained to his lung. 24/n

The pain and hopelessness I felt during those 28 hours still reverberate in my mind. 25/25