After the battlefield change, what followed the Tigray war in Ethiopia? | Ethiopian Stories

The capture of the capital of Tigray, Mekelle, by Ethiopian troops in late November was marked by the government in Addis Ababa at the end of a loyal struggle for the former northern government.

But on June 29, seven months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory, his troops withdrew from Mekelle in the midst of the war that had erupted shortly after the outbreak of a major war with Tigrayan troops.

A few hours after the city was relocated, Ethiopia announced that it had enacted a war law, mainly for humanitarian reasons.

“The main purpose of the war is to help deploy and allow farmers to grow their crops peacefully,” said Abraham Belay, president of Tigray’s current state-of-the-art television program.

The announcement came as Ethiopia was hit by a series of international scandals in the wake of credible reports of genocide, rape and starvation in Tigray, which the United Nations estimates more than 90 percent of its six million people are in dire need of emergency food aid.

It encouraged others that after eight months of brutal war, the region should see an end to the war. But on the day the Ethiopian army withdrew from Mekelle, Tigray’s landline calls, as well as online access to aid agencies, were cut short.

Later, it was reported that the bridge over the Tekeze River, the Tigray crossroads, had been destroyed. All the warring parties were to blame.

The situation continues to hamper the sending of affected people, including some of the two million people who have fled their homes as a result of the conflict.

“We are deeply concerned about the lack of access to and from Tigray as all airports in Shire and Mekelle have been closed and other roads linking Tigray have been closed, especially the road between Shire and Debark where we have operational facilities in the Amhara region,” he said. said Neven Crvenković, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency in Ethiopia.

“Damage to the Tekeze River crossing has prevented the road from crossing – this has a significant impact on our ability to relocate partners, resources and basic necessities such as food, fuel and finances.”

With the exception of destructive tactics, the claims of the warring factions have not been reconciled since Mekelle was captured by soldiers loyal to the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), also known as the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).

TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda has publicly threatened to send Tigrayan troops to Eritrea, whose troops have entered Tigray to support Abiy’s army. “Our main goal is to reduce the enemy’s ability to fight,” he told Reuters news agency.

Following the departure from Mekelle, Eritrean troops also withdrew from several towns in Tigray, including Axum and Shiraro, who remained for several months.

Lieutenant-General Bacha Debele of the Ethiopian Armed Forces, warned at a press conference in Addis Ababa last week: “If he gets angry, [the army] they can march on Mekelle even today. But when we return, the problems will only get worse. ”

Stable position

For months, Tigrayan authorities were at liberty to end the war. After trying to say that the government does not say “jokes”, the TPLF on Sunday established list of cultures on military negotiations.

But several, including Addis Ababa’s acceptance of TPLF rule in the region, need to be lifted.

Judd Devermont, director of the US-based Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said: “No Ethiopian government or TPLF has volunteered to help with the opening,” Al Jazeera told.

“There are also many barriers to accessing humanitarian aid and the concerns raised in the fight for human rights by all parties.”

Although it seems immovable, the Ethiopian government also refused to hold talks with TPLF members, who were selected “terrorist group” with the Ethiopian parliament in May, there is one solution for third party representatives to oversee: prisoners.

On July 2, thousands of exiled Ethiopian troops marched through Mekelle on their way to the city’s shelter. TPLF Debretsion leader Gebremichael he was told The New York Times reports that ground forces will be released, but officers and other supervisors will remain in jail.

“Number of POWs [prisoners of war] At present we have over 8,000, and that is likely to increase, “Fesseha Tessema, a TPLF adviser and former Ethiopian ambassador, told Al Jazeera.” He has been visited by the International Red Cross and we are appealing to aid agencies to help provide food for all. “

In a statement sent by Al Jazeera, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross declined to comment.

According to Fesseha, the Ethiopian government is still in contact with the TPLF in the alleged war. Abiy’s press secretary, Billene Seyoum did not immediately respond to inquiries about POWs emails. Ethiopian officials and state media have not commented on the matter.

For its part, the Ethiopian government is said to be seizing hundreds – if not more – of the Tigrayan tribes in the Ethiopian army, bound at the beginning of the war on suspicion of taking terrorists. The release of prisoners on both sides could open the door to the initial negotiations by establishing a concrete suspension.

Another factor that can contribute to stress is exhaustion. U.S. Senator Chris Coons said he had been told by Prime Minister Abiy late last year that the war would end in less than six weeks.

But the war lasted a long time and ended, and eventually the United States beat Ethiopia and Eritrea with economic sanctions and visa bans.

Last week, Abiy said his government had spent more than $ 100 billion ($ 2.3bn) on the rehabilitation and supply of food in the region, not to mention the cost of the war – at a time when the instability and the coronavirus epidemic had taken a toll on the country’s economy.

“It will take Ethiopia’s economy for several years, perhaps more than a decade, to return to work before the war,” predicted Ayele Gelan, an economist at the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research.

“Even what is legally stated is a serious deterrent to real money. We need to count the money we have spent not only the last eight months but also over the years to repair the damage. The value of money in Tigray not only depends on the resources of the military but also includes damaged roads, bridges, houses, farms. ”

The researchers say the TDF should move from major cities back to the mountains in the event of a civil war. The eruption of new atrocities could be catastrophic for hundreds of thousands of people who are said to be on the verge of starvation and continue to wreak havoc on the environment.

With the rainy season that began in Ethiopia, fighting a little war would have been a way for the militants – with or without stopping the war. It is possible that the military could use this period to recover, rehabilitate, and rehabilitate.

The 1998-2000 border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which killed thousands of people, also saw a reduction in Ethiopia’s rainy season that began in June and ended in late August or early September. Both groups used their time to train veterans or to dig canals before resuming the war.

The Ethiopian government has also stated that its ban on war is uncooperative will expire in September, raising fears that the alliance is using the rainy season as a rest period, prior to the new restructuring. At the time of writing, it could mean that the international community has only two months to publish a ceasefire.

“The need for both sides should be to provide access to assistance, improve food security for millions of Tigrays and ensure that farmers cultivate and plant when the rainy season begins,” the International Crisis Group said. words on Friday. “He must also pursue political reconciliation at the right time.”