Warning: This story contains descriptions of injury details
Berhane Haile was walking home from school through the mountainous landscape of Tigray in northern Ethiopia earlier this year when a massive explosion changed his life forever.
The 16-year-old had just stepped on a piece of ammunition, leaving the bones and flesh on his left leg shattered, torn and bleeding – he was in agony.
“The explosion threw me backwards. There was blood everywhere. People heard the noise and came running,” he told the BBC World Service.
The teenager then had to endure being carried by his distraught father and other villagers on foot for two hours over hilly terrain to Adwa, the main town in the area about 162 km north by road from Tigray’s capital Mekelle. and not far from the Eritrean border.
This was the location of the nearest hospital – and the medics there managed to save his life, but what was left of his leg had to be amputated. Parts of both his hands were also blown away.
His farming village of Seyabo, deep in the mountains of Tigray, was littered with unexploded ordnance in the aftermath of a civil war that ended in November 2022.
These were mainly grenades, grenades and other weapons left behind by fleeing fighters from both sides. It is believed that no landmines have been placed in this area.
The two-year conflict, which has seen millions of people flee their homes and become dependent on aid, has been described as one of the deadliest in Africa in recent decades.
It broke out in late 2020 between allied Ethiopian and Eritrean forces on one side and local Tigrayan fighters on the other, both fighting for control of the region.
An African Union estimate puts the number of people killed in the clashes and the humanitarian crisis caused by the conflict at half a million.
But two years after the peace deal that ended the war, people are still being killed and injured by the remnants of the war.
Berhane had deviated from the usual mountain path because he had seen his family’s sheep and goats grazing – and had gone there to prevent them from trespassing on someone else’s land. This is when he stood on the explosive.
The Red Cross says it has helped nearly 400 victims of accidental explosions since 2023, 80% of them children.
But the charity believes this figure is just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Nigsti Gidey was five months pregnant when her husband was killed by an explosion in Newi district, near Adwa, earlier this year.
He had gone out to help with construction work in their village when he stepped on a discarded gun. He was taken to a hospital, but he did not survive.
“There are ammo everywhere,” his widow told the BBC.
“Officials tell us not to touch any metallic substances on the road.”
Efforts have been made to collect unexploded weapons, such as in Gorero, a small village on the side of the main road to Adwa, where officials have been scouring farms and fields.
But it is difficult to carry out extensive searches and local police chief Hadush Gebremedhin says he has asked his superiors for more support to carry out bigger checks.
He hasn’t heard anything yet, which means it’s likely that resources are limited and bomb disposal experts are in short supply.
Mr. Hadush’s officers have removed the fuses from some of the weapons they found, but he still says extreme heat or accidental fire could detonate them.
Weapons clearance charities – with experience in dealing with the aftermath of other African conflicts – could eventually step in, but it is an issue that requires large-scale coordination.
In Adwa, officials who lack the ability to safely dispose of explosives carry them back at great personal risk to store them haphazardly on the grounds of the city’s peace and security office.
Yet the all-consuming fear that reigned over Berhane’s village, where the sound of heavy gunfire once echoed through the mountains, is gone.
Basic services such as electricity and internet, which were cut off during the war, have resumed allowing Seyabo and other villages, towns and villages to come back to life.
Berhane was able to return to school for the first time in years a few months after the conflict ended, but even before his accident last February, life for his family was far from normal.
He lost his eldest brother, who was a fighter on the Tigrayan side, during the war.
One of his sisters, also a fighter, suffered permanent injuries and is still receiving medical attention in Mekelle.
Another sister who had been living in another part of Tigray was forced from her home and unable to return because her town is in a disputed area claimed by both Tigray and the neighboring Amhara region.
She lived in a displaced persons camp in the town of Adwa until recently, when she moved to help Berhane.
As for Berhane, a humanitarian organization was able to provide him with a prosthetic leg and a crutch, allowing him to walk again.
He couldn’t go back to Seyabo because life there often involves strenuous hikes through the mountains.
A typical twenty-minute walk to the village school would now take about an hour. That is why he moved to Adwa, where he rented a house with his sister.
It’s unclear how they will cover all their costs since his sister is still dependent on assistance, but Berhane says this is the best way for him to continue in school.
His new classmates helped him write notes in class as the explosion also damaged his fingers and thumbs.
“I have mixed feelings,” he told the BBC about his situation.
“Sometimes I get angry, but sometimes I realize I’m still alive and I feel grateful.”
His dreams of one day becoming a farmer are over. Before his accident, he often helped his father on the family farm growing corn, sorghum and other grains.
His move to the city has upset his parents, who are already suffering the consequences of the war.
But Berhane, now 17, says he is determined to persevere so that one day he can help them.
He wants to continue his studies and has set his sights on a career as a civil servant.
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