‘We’re just protecting our property’: Q&A with Amhara leader | Stories of Abiy Ahmed

Bahir Dar, Ethiopia – Tigrayan fighters this week launched a series of raids in the southern part of the Amhara region to take over areas claimed to have been captured by Amhara fighters in the ongoing northern Ethiopian war zone in Tigray.

The eight-month conflict has divided the Ethiopian army and its allied Eritrean troops and militants from neighboring Amhara in Ethiopia and militants loyal to the ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Tigrayan freedom fighters, also recently named after the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), captured the province’s capital, Mekelle, in late June. Federal troops have evacuated much of Tigray and the government in Addis Ababa has declared war, but Amhara troops have taken control of conflict zones west and south of Tigray.

Al Jazeera spoke to Fanta Mandefro, the Vice President of the Amhara region, who said some special Amhara groups had been sent to the border to protect their area and people. The questions below have been modified briefly and clearly.

Al Jazeera: TDF is pushing south and west, capturing key towns such as Korem, Alamata and Raya. They say they are restoring their place. How do you feel?

Fanta Mandefro: The Amhara regional government is protecting its people from TPLF violence, which has opened up a brutal war against civilians with the aim of cleansing nations.

In response, the Amhara provincial government protects its people and calls on the people to protect themselves in their communities to prevent the perpetrator from being harassed.

Al Jazeera: So are you inviting ordinary people to get involved?

Boys: Yes, just to protect themselves. That is, in their community, they should know, they should not be abused. They do not have any weapons. Elsewhere, they are evicted from their homes. People who have fled the violence see this.

Al Jazeera: How can they protect themselves?

Boys: They need to know and whenever they come, they should be prepared in any way to protect themselves using any machine they have.

It is a sad moment for ordinary people. Now is the time to plant and people are being forced to move out of their fields and villages.

Al Jazeera: Does the fact that civilians have to engage in war mean that the war is over?

Boys: No. [federal] the government declared an end to the war and relocated to Tigray. But now the TPLF forces are entering the south and committing atrocities. That is why it is not acceptable for us [regional] The government should be put down when our people are persecuted, permanently evicted from their villages, when they leave their homeland, when they are destroyed.

One end of the war has not been broken but that does not mean our government will be in a state of disarray unless our people are displaced and killed. We never went an inch side of the Tigray. We’re just protecting our own environment.

Al Jazeera: TPLF will oppose this, saying that these are Tigrayan areas, approved by the map. It is said that the Amhara army used the war to capture Tigrayan territory.

Boys: There has never been a long-running dispute over those areas. When the TPLF came to power in 1991, it allied itself on all fronts and considered the wrong borders. Even at that time, the territories were not even an official part of the Tigrayan landscape.

We are talking 30 years ago. The Amhara people did not accept the introduction at that time. We were never asked. The site was considered non-TPLF – and is not limited to location.

We are also talking about the rights of our people, people who have been persecuted for 30 years, excommunication, experiencing racial cleansing. This was the case in Welkait (west of Tigray), Raya (south of Tigray) and many other places. He destroyed our people and made them their people.

Al Jazeera: The Tigrayan troops will not surrender until they receive all their land. How does this affect you?

Boys: It is not a matter of concern. That’s right.

Al Jazeera: So are you sending more troops to the front?

Boys: We will protect our people. That’s it. We will not move our troops an inch in the Tigray area but we will protect our people. They have been brutally treated and tortured. I urge foreign countries not to allow this. It is not just the responsibility of the Amhara government and the Ethiopian government. It should also be the responsibility of foreign countries to protect ordinary people from harm.

Al Jazeera: The Amhara Army (ASF), the Ethiopian army and the Eritrean military are also being prosecuted by civil rights groups. ASF has been criticized mainly for damaging bridges on the Tekeze River.

Boys: I do not know of any of our wars that are going on. These organizations must provide the necessary evidence.

Near the Tekeze bridge, TPLF forces are known to destroy buildings and then blame other groups.

Al Jazeera: So did the Amhara power not destroy the bridge?

Boys: No, it’s not.

Al Jazeera: Do you have evidence that it was TDF that blew up the bridge?

Boys: With TDF.

They need to stop being angry, to stop attacking others and to be cruel. There is no profit in any dispute. Conflicts are destructive.

We are very concerned. There is a need for peace. Ordinary people need to be involved in productive activities so that they can feed themselves. There is no conflict between the Tigray people and the Amhara people. It is the TPLF that is pushing the Tigray people into the arena that is forcing the Amhara people to defend themselves.