The
entire world knew about the devastating famine in
Ethiopia. But it knew little about its major cause.
This was the war being waged by the military dictator
Mengistu Haile Mariam against his own people. His
junta, known as the Dergue, killed thousands, mainly
in the northern province of Tigray. The people rose
up in defiance led by the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation
Front, or TPLF. Long after the famine had been forgotten
I travelled with TPLF fighters. Our objective was
to report on the bombing of Hausien, a market town
attacked by Migs and helicopter gunships. Africa Watch,
in its book "Evil Days", estimated that
as many as 2,000 people may have died in one day.
