Dozens of bodies found on Tigray-Sudan border river

KHARTOUM, Sudan

Dozens of bodies have washed up on a river that marks the border between Ethiopia and Sudan, residents on the Sudanese side have reported.

Some of the bodies had gunshot wounds and others had their hands bound.

The Setit River is known in Ethiopia as the Tekeze and flows through the conflict-hit northern Tigray region where Ethiopian forces and allied fighters have been battling with Tigray rebels.

A health worker who fled to Sudan to escape the fighting told the Reuters news agency that he had buried 10 bodies over the past week. He said another 28 bodies had been recovered, including seven on Monday.

The AP news agency cited a Sudanese official saying that local authorities in Kassala province had found about 50 bodies, apparently people fleeing the war.

The Ethiopian government has not officially commented on the bodies. A government-run Twitter account on Monday said a "propagandist" campaign about a "fake massacre" in Humera - where Tekeze river runs through - "has been revived again using false images and showing graphic images”.

The fighting in Tigray began in November between the regional power, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the federal government.

The nine-month war has caused a massive humanitarian crisis with a million people displaced and hundreds of thousands facing famine conditions.