A year ago, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military campaign against Tigray fighters, promising a quick victory. [67][68][69][70] Mass extrajudicial killings of civilians have taken place throughout, including in Axum,[71] Bora,[72] Chenna,[73][74] Kobo,[75][76] the Hitsats refugee camp,[77] Humera,[78] Mai Kadra,[69][79] the Debre Abay monastery,[72][80] and Zalambessa. Fighting broke out in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region in November 2020 after the central government accused Tigrayan fighters of attacking a federal army base and sending forces to the region . [198][199], On 8 October 2021, the TPLF said that an intensive air campaign by the Ethiopian Air Force began against TDF positions in the North Wollo and North Gondar zones of the Amhara Region, mostly around the towns of Wegeltena, Wurgessa and Haro. The terms of the November 2 peace agreement include disarming rebel forces, restoring federal . It called on the battling parties to engage in negotiations for comprehensive national dialogue. In early November 2020, TPLF forces were accused of having attacked and looted federal military bases in the region. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 20 April 2021 Humanitarian Aid. In 2018, following anti-government protests, Abiy Ahmed took over as PM and introduced reforms Powerful politicians from Tigray, Ethiopia's northernmost state, accused Mr Abiy of trying to. This is why Abiy Ahmed, a man of mixed Oromo-Amharic parentage won favour with the two majority communities and came to power in 2018. The aftermath of an airstrike in Mekele, capital of the Tigray region of northern . [227][228], On 7 January the same day as the Dedebit airstrike Ethiopia released a number of opposition leaders from prison, including some from the TPLF, and said they desired to have a dialogue with the Tigrayan leadership. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is the biggest symbol of Ethiopias growing ambitions. Kaili out, Angel in: Is the EU Parliament starting afresh? Two thousand displaced people returned to the Fant Rasu zone in Afar Region after the ENDF and Afar Special Forces regained control and OCHA partner organisations' access to improved. On Friday, even a UN aid plane couldnt land in Mekelle due to the ongoing airstrikes being carried out by the Ethiopian forces. 1606. Disturbing reports have continued to emerge of widespread abuse of civilians in Ethiopia's Tigray region, nearly six months since conflict erupted, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has been accused of supporting Tigray rebels TPLF in Ethiopia. Article 62.9 grants the House of Federation the right to "order Federal intervention if any State [government], in violation of [the] Constitution, endangers the constitutional order. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. On the other hand, Ethiopia is also getting a lot of support from Russia, which is itself looking to consolidate its position in the Horn of Africa. Fighters from the northern region have been locked in a brutal war with government forces since last year. News/Politics 2023-01-06T11:02:07.439Z. [204][205] A humanitarian worker citing witnesses said the EDF were fighting the TDF in Berhale, a town in Afar 71 kilometres (44mi) northeast of Mekelle. 875,879+ refugees[41] (20,000 missing)[42] WHO boss Dr Tedros denies supporting Tigray leaders. "[61][62] Together with seven smaller rebel groups, the TPLF and OLA declared a coalition aiming to "dismantle Abiy's government by force or by negotiations, and then form a transitional authority. On Friday, even a UN aid plane couldnt. [286][287], Former head of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, Abdilsalan Guld,[288] claimed that Somali troops were sent to Tigray. [53] The ENDF counterattacked from the south while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as "law enforcement operations. [283] The victory of Ethiopian forces over Dessie and Kombolcha in December 2021 was partly due to the drones supplied by Ethiopia's allies. And that may decide the winners of the Yemen war where the UAE and Saudi Arabia are fighting the Iran-backed Houthi rebels. [200] On 11 October, Ethiopian-allied forces launched coordinated ground attacks "on all fronts" against the TDF with combined arms including tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, warplanes, and drones according to the Tigrayan government. Their control has been marked by reports of ethnically motivated violence and forced displacement. This became apparent in the last two months after the Tigrayan rebels achieved major gains in the Tigray region by seizing key areas after the army withdrew. "Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement" that was signed between Ethiopia's government and Tigrayan rebels, Tigray People's. Whose interests is Turkey safeguarding in Sudan? The Emiratis understand that they must prioritize their own interests over Bidens ambition of destabilizing Ethiopia and establishing a puppet regime in the East African nation. [197] On 30 September, amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray, the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials, reportedly because of "meddling" in its internal affairs, giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country. [51][52], The government and the TPLF formally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and systematic, verifiable disarmament (2 November 2022)[21][22] [23], Exact casualty figures are disputed [117][118] Ethiopia considered the Tigray election to be illegal, and responded by slashing federal funding to the region, a decision the TPLF described as "tantamount to declaration of war. [164], On 9 January 2021, Ethiopian TV reported that 300 refugees in Hitsats camp were executed by the TPLF. The group. [58][153], After Ethiopian federal forces and their allies captured Mekelle and other major cities, forces loyal to the Tigray government began to regroup into mountainous areas of the region and reorganized under the banner of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). [385], Several proposals for peace negotiations and mediation were made involving some of the main groups involved in the war. in Mekelle due to the ongoing airstrikes being carried out by the Ethiopian forces. [242] The town's capture by Eritrea and the fighting in nearby areas displaced around 210,000 people, most of whom fled to the city of Shire. [252], On 10 October, the TPLF claimed that Eritrea was escalating its offensive, sending more forces towards Rama, Tserona, and Zalambessa in the far north, with one aid worker saying it is the heaviest fighting since hostilities resumed. [64] However, fighting dramatically re-escalated in late August 2022, after peace talks broke down. Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north, respectively. [11][279][280][281][282] As early as December 2020, there were unconfirmed rumors that Emirati drones were being stationed in the Eritrean port city of Assab. The UAE, being a regional powerhouse has shown willingness to get involved in different conflicts including the Yemen war, the Syrian civil war and the Libyan civil war. To put it simply, the Biden administration is desperate. The conflict has escalated rapidly since June, when fighters began to retake most of Tigray and expand intoneighboring regions. Its humanitarian branch, the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), established in 1978, received large amounts of international humanitarian aid for famine victims and small-scale development projects in liberated Tigray. [255] Amidst the three-front offensive launched by Ethiopia and Eritrea, estimates put the number of Ethiopian casualties at over 90,000 in a single month, while Tigrayan casualties were also deemed incredibly high. On 20 December 2021, the TPLF announced they had withdrawn their troops from Amhara and Afar, saying they were hoping to create, as stated by TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, "a decisive opening for peace." [285] On 19 January 2021, the Somali government denied the claim that Somali troops had trained in Eritrea and then deployed in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The government fears the Ethiopian crisis will affect stability in the region and neighboring countries. [245], On 20 September, the government of Tigray said Eritrea had invaded the region, and that heavy fighting was taking place across northern Tigray. [30] After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November, which went into effect the day after;[50] Eritrea was not a party to the agreement, however, and their status has remained unclear. [153] The first of these reports came in January 2021 from unverified social media accounts. This essentially relates to the geostrategic advantage that Ethiopia enjoys. It did little to stop the spread, documents show", "Facebook accused by survivors of letting activists incite ethnic massacres with hate and misinformation in Ethiopia", "Oversight Board raises alarm over Facebook's role in Ethiopian conflict", "Eighteen journalists arrested in Ethiopia, two facing possible death sentence", "Ethiopian media regulator threatens to expel BBC, Reuters, CNN and AP for 'assisting' TPLF agenda", "Ethiopia launches crackdown on journalists and activists", "Journalists Struggle Through Information Blackout in Ethiopia", "In Ethiopia, mass detention signals shrinking press freedom", "Ethiopia: The daunting task of reporting the Tigray conflict", "Number of journalists behind bars reaches global high", "Communiqu of the 38th extraordinary assembly of IGAD heads of state and government Djibouti, Republic of Djibouti 20th December 2020", "Ethiopia's regional Tigray forces name conditions for peace with government", "UN Calls on Tigray Forces to Endorse Cease-fire", "Ethiopia: Government, Tigrayan forces agree to end two-year war", "Ethiopia civil war: Tigray truce a triumph for PM Abiy Ahmed", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tigray_War&oldid=1134199508, Second agreement for implementing the peace deal signed by both parties (12 November 2022), This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 13:37. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. [65] Rapid mobilization of troops soon followed, with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray reportedly organizing hundreds of thousands of troops against each other by October the same year. "He himself is a member of that group and he is a criminal," army chief of staff General Birhanu Jula said in a televised statement, before calling for him to be removed. More than 136 cases of rape were reported in hospitals in Mekelle, Ayder, Adigrat and Wukro in eastern Tigray between December 2020 and January 2021, with indications that there are many more such unreported cases. [217][218][219][220] On 6 December, government forces claimed to have recaptured the strategic cities of Dessie and Kombolcha. Foreign and defense ministers from across the European Union . for investment needs. [92][93][94], On 28 March 2018, in a closed-door election to chair the EPRDF, executive committee members elected the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO) chairman Abiy Ahmed. With a left-wing nationalist ideology, they vowed to fight for the rights of Tigrayans, a relatively small ethnic group that account for just 5% of the population and had long been marginalized by the central government. A similar call was made in Afar. He unseated many Tigrayan officials, charged some with corruption and introduced a set of political. The frequent Emirati cargo flights to Ethiopia make it clear that the United Arab Emirates is not abandoning Ethiopia. . The fighters havemanaged to recruitalliesand areapproaching the capital, Addis Ababa. [66] On 12 November, both parties signed a deal to allow humanitarian aid into Tigray. The country is looking to industrialise. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has denied accusations made by Ethiopia's army chief that he . It is pushing a misleading narrative that projects the Tigray fighters as victims and the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as some sort of an aggressor. So, despite US sanctions, the UAE feels the need to help and arm Ethiopian forces to take on the TPLF fighters. Birhanu did not offer any evidence to support his accusations. However, no one except the US wants to support the TPLF fighters in their bid to break up the nation of Ethiopia. All sides wished to secure a military victory, but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term, and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict. Your email address will not be published. [209] Meanwhile, it was reported that a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans had occurred in Addis Ababa. He unseated many Tigrayan officials, charged some with corruptionand introduced a set of political reforms which sidelined the TPLF. However, things may be going even further now. The Oromo and the Amhara felt that they were being, by the Tigray minority under the rule of a TPLF-dominated coalition, which funelled a large share of national resources into the Tigray region. . Debretsion also requested the establishment of a no-fly zone over Tigray, as well as a weapons embargo against Ethiopia and Eritrea. [105] In March, the National Election Board of Ethiopia delayed the general elections originally scheduled for 29 August 2020 to a then-undetermined date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [192][193] On 9 August, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore expressed concern about reports that over 200 people, including 100 children, had been killed in attacks on displaced families sheltering at a health facility and a school in the Afar Region. "[119][53], In late September 2020, the TPLF stated that the constitutional term limit of the House of Federation, the House of Peoples' Representatives, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers was 5 October 2020 and that for this reason, it would consider "the incumbent" constitutionally illegitimate after 5 October; they proposed replacing the government with a technocratic caretaker government, as detailed in a plan posted on Facebook by the Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces. [340][341][342][343][344] By 13 March 2021, the UN and its partners reached about 0.9 million people with complete food baskets, and 0.7 million people with clean water. 13,000,000 in need of food aid[43], After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when Tigrayan security forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray. "[54][55] Federal allied forces captured Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, on 28 November, after which Abiy declared the operation "over. [379] In November 2021 (during the 20212022 state of emergency), the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) threatened to cancel the media licences of BBC News, Reuters, CNN and Associated Press, accusing the news organisations of having "consistently disseminated news that sowed seeds of animosity among people and compromised the sovereignty of the country." Photo: Gerald Matzka/dpa, 17 January 2023, Spain, Palma: A man with an umbrella walks past Christmas decorations damaged by strong winds in Palma. The US has abandoned Ethiopia. "Tigray has handed over its heavy weapons as part of its commitment to implementing the #Pretoria agreement" that was signed between Ethiopia's government and Tigrayan rebels, Tigray People's. Ethiopia's military accused the World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday of supporting and trying to procure arms and diplomatic backing for Tigray state's . Egypt has joined BRICS de-dollarisation campaign, The real reason why US denied giving Abram tanks to Ukraine. Ethiopia's military has accused Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organisation, of siding with rebels led by the Tigray People's Liberation Front as the country nears. [140], Offensives of joint ENDF-Amhara Region-Eritrean forces into Tigray were facilitated by the intervention of "Pterosaurus" drones, launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab, Eritrea. Fighting is raging Ethipia since November 4 when Abiy attacked Tigray state accusing the TPLF of attacking two federal military camps in the region. The Ethiopian government declared the election void, leading to an outbreak of violence between the two sides. [261] By 22 October, ENDF and EDF-allied forces had also captured Adwa and Axum, even as peace talks with the TPLF were about to commence in South Africa. 81 - 10 February 2021", "Ethiopian cities hit by rockets from Tigray forces", "Rockets fired from Ethiopia's Tigray hit Eritrean capital, diplomats say", "Ethiopia crisis: Tigray leader vows to keep fighting as government advances", "Ethiopia: Shire Town of Tigray Captured", "Ethiopian government says troops take two towns from Tigray fighters", "Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: PM gives Tigray forces 72 hours to surrender", "Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: Mekelle hospital struggling after attack Red Cross", "Fact check: Are other nations involved in the war in Tigray? Controlled parts of Tigray in the war introduced a set of political which! Refugees [ 41 ] ( 20,000 missing ) [ 42 ] WHO boss Dr denies! An outbreak of violence between the two sides ] WHO boss Dr Tedros denies supporting Tigray TPLF! 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