The wreckage of a car that had carried three aid workers who were killed in the Tigray region of Ethiopia in 2021. Credit...Giulia Paravicini/Reuters
By Eve Sampson and Declan Walsh
Reporting from Nairobi
On July 15, 2025, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused the Ethiopian government of failing to conduct a thorough investigation into the murders of three of its aid workers in the Tigray region. The group released a report implicating Ethiopian soldiers and demanding justice for the deceased. This chilling episode, occurring in June 2021 during a brutal civil conflict, has now revived scrutiny into the violence against humanitarian workers.
Raquel Ayora, a senior official with MSF, stated emphatically, “Our team was executed. There is no way the perpetrators could not know that they were killing civilians.” While the report refrained from naming individuals specifically, it echoed findings from a 2022 investigation by The New York Times, which identified an Ethiopian military officer who allegedly ordered the execution of the aid workers just prior to the incident.
In the weeks leading up to the tragedy, MSF noted an increase in hostility from Ethiopian government forces towards international aid groups. Evidence was also revealed that Ethiopian troops were positioned on the road where the three aid workers were brutally killed. Despite numerous promises from the Ethiopian government that an investigation was in progress, families of the victims remain without credible answers regarding the circumstances of their deaths.
This ongoing lack of accountability highlights systemic issues within Ethiopian leadership and raises significant concerns over the safety of humanitarian workers operating amid conflict.
By Eve Sampson and Declan Walsh
Reporting from Nairobi
On July 15, 2025, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) accused the Ethiopian government of failing to conduct a thorough investigation into the murders of three of its aid workers in the Tigray region. The group released a report implicating Ethiopian soldiers and demanding justice for the deceased. This chilling episode, occurring in June 2021 during a brutal civil conflict, has now revived scrutiny into the violence against humanitarian workers.
Raquel Ayora, a senior official with MSF, stated emphatically, “Our team was executed. There is no way the perpetrators could not know that they were killing civilians.” While the report refrained from naming individuals specifically, it echoed findings from a 2022 investigation by The New York Times, which identified an Ethiopian military officer who allegedly ordered the execution of the aid workers just prior to the incident.
In the weeks leading up to the tragedy, MSF noted an increase in hostility from Ethiopian government forces towards international aid groups. Evidence was also revealed that Ethiopian troops were positioned on the road where the three aid workers were brutally killed. Despite numerous promises from the Ethiopian government that an investigation was in progress, families of the victims remain without credible answers regarding the circumstances of their deaths.
This ongoing lack of accountability highlights systemic issues within Ethiopian leadership and raises significant concerns over the safety of humanitarian workers operating amid conflict.
