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Ethiopia’s military has gained full control of the capital of the defiant Tigray region, the army announced Saturday after Tigray TV reported that the city of a half-million people was being “heavily bombarded” in the final push to arrest the region’s leaders.The army chief of staff, Gen. Birhanu Jula, made the comment about the military’s control of Mekele while speaking on an Ethiopian state broadcast. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a separate statement, “We have entered Mekele without innocent civilians being targets.”
Neither mentioned the arrest of any of the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which runs the region. The Tigray leader could not be reached.
With communications cut to the region of 6 million people, it is difficult to verify claims by the warring sides. Each government regards the other as illegal.
Millions of civilians have been affected as the fighting has gone on for nearly a month.
Humanitarians confirmed the shelling that began earlier Saturday in Mekele, a densely populated city, which immediately raised concerns about civilian casualties.
Ethiopia’s government had warned Mekele residents there would be “no mercy” if they didn’t move away from the TPLF leaders in time. The United Nations said some residents fled as tanks closed in and Abiy’s 72-hour ultimatum for TPLF leaders to surrender expired.
Alarm spiked anew on Saturday as Ethiopian forces appeared to be realizing the “final phase” of the conflict, though the heavily armed TPLF has long experience fighting in the region’s rugged terrain and some experts have warned of a drawn-out conflict.
“The United States is gravely concerned about the worsening situation in the Tigray region,” the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Kelly Craft, tweeted after the reported bombardment began. She called for dialogue, the protection of civilians and access for aid.
“I invite everyone to pray for Ethiopia where armed clashes have intensified and are causing a serious humanitarian situation,” Pope Francis tweeted.
The TPLF once dominated the country’s ruling coalition but was sidelined under new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Abiy is now rejecting dialogue with the TPLF, most recently in his meeting on Friday with African Union envoys.
As Ethiopian forces moved in, Maj. Gen. Hassan Ibrahim vowed to capture the city “on all fronts.”
“It is possible that some of the wanted people may go to their families or neighboring areas and try to hide for few days. But our armed forces, after seizing control of Mekele city, will be tasked to hunt down and capture these criminals one by one wherever they may be,” he said in comments carried by the Ethiopian News Agency.
The Tigray region has been almost entirely cut off from the outside world since Nov. 4, when Abiy announced a military offensive in response to a TPLF attack on a military base. Humanitarians have said at least hundreds of people have been killed.
The fighting threatens to destabilize Ethiopia, which has been described as the linchpin of the strategic Horn of Africa.
With transport links cut, food and other supplies are running out in Tigray, home to 6 million people, and the United Nations has asked for immediate and unimpeded access for aid.
Nearly 1 million people have been displaced in the region, the U.N. said in an update Saturday, citing local authorities.
The office of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he has “expressed his grave concern over the consequences of the Ethiopian conflict to the civilian population and over the spread of hate speech and reports of ethnic profiling.”
Multiple crises are growing. More than 43,000 refugees have fled for Sudan, where people struggle to give them food, shelter and care. The International Committee of the Red Cross says hospitals in Tigray are running out of drugs. And fighting near camps sheltering 96,000 Eritrean refugees in northern Ethiopia has put them in the line of fire.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Saturday visited Sudan’s Umm Rakouba refugee camp, which houses some 10,000 refugees. He said about $150 million is needed over the next six months to help Sudan manage the influx.
Worryingly, refugees in Sudan have told The Associated Press that Ethiopian forces near the border are impeding people from leaving. Reporters from the AP saw crossings slow to a trickle in recent days. Ethiopia’s government has not commented.
“We have seen the figure of people decline but continuing. Five to 600 per day is not a small figure, let’s make no mistake. It is true there were days in which they were in their thousands, but it depends also on the difficulty of moving around their country and on the border,” Grandi said.
Access to Tigray is “the main obstacle at the moment,” he said, urging Abiy’s government to “grant us corridors or whatever they call it to provide assistance.”
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Survivors of the Maikadra massacre recovering at the Gondar University Hospital
It is indeed heartbreaking. You are mistaken in saying there have not been attacks on ethnic minorities in Tigray before. The people of Raya, Wolqayit, and Humera have plenty to say if you choose to hear them. But perhaps we shouldn’t have that discussion in this thread.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Ethiopian government forces have begun an offensive to capture Tigray’s capital, Mekelle, according to the leader of rebellious forces in the volatile region.
Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) told the media in a text message on Saturday that Mekelle was under “heavy bombardment.”
Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister’s office, said that Ethiopian forces would not “bombard” civilian areas, adding “the safety of Ethiopians in Mekelle and Tigray region continues as a priority for the federal government.”
Raids in refugee camps
Debretsion also accused the military of the neighbouring nation of Eritrea of raiding refugee camps in Tigray to capture refugees who had fled Eritrea.
Reuters was not immediately able to get a comment from the Eritrean government.
Claims from all sides are difficult to verify since phone and internet links to the region have been down and access tightly controlled since fighting began three weeks ago between forces of the government and the TPLF.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
The Ethiopian army warned residents to “stay indoors,” as it starts the final phase of a weeks-long offensive in the Tigray region.
Thousands have been killed in the fighting, and 40,000 fled to Sudan, where they face food shortages – including over 300 malnourished children.Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Efforts by African Union envoys to quell a civil conflict in Ethiopia have foundered, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed rejecting negotiations with the dissident Tigray state.
Abiy met former presidents Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa on Friday, during which he laid all blame for the crisis on the leadership of the northern region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front. He gave no indication that the government is contemplating a cease-fire.
Abiy “expressed the federal government’s mandated responsibility to enforce rule of law in the region and across the country,” his office said in a statement issued after the talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. “Failure to do so would nurture a culture of impunity with devastating cost to the survival of the country.”
Ebba Kalondo, the spokeswoman for AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki, confirmed the meeting but said she couldn’t comment further.
The TPLF, once the predominant power in Ethiopia’s ruling coalition, has been progressively sidelined since Abiy took office in 2018. The army began an incursion into Tigray three weeks ago, after Abiy accused the TPLF of attacking a military base to steal weapons.
The hostilities have triggered a humanitarian crisis across Tigray, with tens of thousands of people displaced and food, cash and fuel shortages now widespread, and the government is facing mounting international pressure to de escalate the conflict. There are no accurate figures of the number of people who have died in the fighting.
“Ethiopia needs a cease-fire. We therefore expressly support the mediation offer of the African Union,” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after a meeting with Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen on Friday. “All sides must do their utmost to protect civilians and provide access to humanitarian aid. The suffering we see is dismaying.”
Ethiopia Fighting Leaves Sudan Hosting Refugees It Can’t Support Abiy, who won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize for ending a long-running conflict with Eritrea, has insisted that the matter is an internal one and that the TPLF leaders must be brought to justice.
On Thursday, the prime minister ordered his troops to attack Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, after a deadline for the regional forces to surrender expired. The United Nations and humanitarian groups have expressed concern that the city’s more than 500,000 residents could be caught in the crossfire of the ensuing battle.
Fighting is ongoing on three fronts to the north, west and south of Mekelle, according to three foreign diplomats who’ve been briefed on the conflict and spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to publicly comment. Federal troops had advanced to within about 50 kilometers (31 miles) of the city by late Thursday evening, they said.
The situation in the city remains calm, although some residents have moved to rural areas, according to two aid workers with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be identified.
More than 43,000 people have fled into eastern Sudan, which prior to the eruption of the Ethiopian conflict was already hosting almost 1 million refugees — mainly from South Sudan. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, is currently visiting Sudan to assess the state of the agency’s operations there, his office said in a statement.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Ethiopia Prime Minister meets AU envoys but bars them from Tigray” – does this end AU mediation efforts? Is Abiy Ahmed sticking to a war plan he crafted with President Isaias at Eritrea’s military base at Sawa in July?
These dictators must be stopped immediately by UN &EU before they inflict more harm to the region. They are determined to make maximum damage before they are killed or brought to the ICC court. History will remember UN and EU if they allow these two goons to make another Rwanda.
He doesn’t refuse to make arrangements for ‘dialogue’ , just like, in the case of AU, but he is set his way. It makes him look like someone who’s open to dialogue but inherently he is not. Problem can’t b resolved by him & his supporters only. We share a country.
If the envoy gets access to Tigray, then they will be able to get full information on the ground what Abiy Ahmed, Isaias Afewerki & the Amhara foot soldiers inflicted over the people of Tigray. The international community should break the silence!
Unfortunately Ethiopia has returned to military junta rule a la DERG. Ethiopia’s PM attempts to frame his war on Tigray as a “law enforcement operation” using the Air Force and unknown number of brigades/ divisions is absurd!
Calls by International community Colonel Abiy Ahmed to stop War On Tigray completely ignored. All options are exhausted and to stop the war, impose: 1. Economic and political sanctions; 2. Travel bans on political and military leaders; and 3. Arms embargo.
War or no war, the drum of liberation far reaching..Red sea route blocked,Sudan border blocked..TPLF under blockade…protracted war hallucination.
I am wandering about this dictator he even can’t travel one inch with out support of eritrea and UAE drones but the world is missing one thing the involvement of eritrea and UAE drones.
very concerning indeed. a peaceful region is now being destabilized by unelected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali & Eritrean which is causing humanitarian crisis burden to the rest of the world. Must be stopped before this gets out of hand.
Dictator Isaias, for sure, will fall out with him if he ever change his mind and try to resolve it on dialogue – any such peaceful conflict resolution threatens the reign of Isaias in Eritrea as his reign only lives on on crisis management and propaganda.
Since Abiy was in power he was planning for war to destroy Tigrayans.
Abiy thinks he can win this war easily. He can not win this war with out a huge cost and tragedy. Even if he wins the war, he can not run the country peacefully. We are now back to the 1970’s.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
According to UNHCR More than two thirds crossed the Hamdayet border. We were there two days ago and saw soldiers along the Ethiopian side of the border.
The number of refugees arriving in Sudan has reduced significantly. Over the last two days the average number has been around 700. At the peak of the arrivals, aid agencies recorded nearly 7,000 a day. Little is known about the situation in the ground inside Tigray.The refugees we spoke to in Hamdayet (main border crossing point) said they were worried their relatives were being stopped/dissuaded from crossing into Sudan. Some have been waiting to be reunited with family before proceeding to camps further away from the border.
The Um Raquba camp is about 70km from the border. A lot of construction work is still going on – aid agencies building make-shift facilities and refugees putting up shelters.The government soldiers are blocking Tigrian refugees from crossing the border to Sudan. This is done intentionally to silence the international community from putting pressure on Abiy.
Let there be an independent investigation. Even the “civilian” militia who was driven there to grab land by the turncoat in Addis, deserves justice. The community was living in peace and harmony until mayhem & hatred was brought to them in the name of “law-enforcement”.
The atrocities the Ethiopian military is committing are unacceptable. They should leave Tigray alone.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
The Ethiopian government has been rounding up ethnic Tigrayan security forces deployed in United Nations and African peacekeeping missions abroad and forcing them onto flights to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, where it is feared they may face torture or even execution, according to an internal U.N. account.
The moves come as Ethiopia is preparing a military offensive against the capital of the country’s Tigray region, Mekelle. Conflict erupted earlier this month between federal and Tigrayan forces in the ethnically divided nation, which for decades was under de facto rule by the minority Tigrayans. The alarm inside the U.N. suggests that Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, may be expanding the country’s weeks long conflict beyond the country’s borders. It has alarmed human rights advocates and U.N. officials, who fear that the U.N. blue helmets may be persecuted upon their arrival back in Ethiopia.
The targeting of Tigrayan military officers in foreign peacekeeping and military operations comes amid rising fears that an Ethiopian government offensive against Tigrayan rebels inside Ethiopia could devolve into ethnic cleansing, with atrocities reported on both sides. The human rights watchdog Amnesty International recently issued a report detailing “the massacre of a very large number of civilians” in northern Ethiopia earlier this month, allegedly by groups loyal to the Tigrayan forces, in a grim harbinger of violence to come. Meanwhile, refugees fleeing the violence said they were targeted because they were Tigrayan.
In South Sudan earlier this month, Ethiopian soldiers disarmed a senior ethnic Ethiopian Tigrayan officer, escorted him to the capital of Juba, and forced him onto a Nov. 11 Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa, according to the internal account, which was reviewed by Foreign Policy.Ten days later, the Ethiopian contingent at the U.N. base in Juba reportedly detained three other Tigrayan officers. The officers, according to the internal account, “were coerced to take the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Juba to Addis Ababa. As of now their whereabouts are unknown.”
The U.N. Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS, “has become aware that three soldiers were repatriated back to their country on Saturday without the Mission’s knowledge,” a senior U.N. official at the mission said. “Our Human Rights Division is working to follow up on their situation.”
“If there are any incidents where personnel are discriminated against or have their rights violated because of their ethnicity or they have concerns about their situation, this may involve a human rights violation under international law,” the official added. “As a result, the UNMISS Human Rights Division is currently liaising with the Ethiopian peacekeeping command in South Sudan and has requested access to any contingent personnel who might, for any reason, be compelled to return home and be in need of protection.”
The crackdown has spread to other African countries where Ethiopian peacekeepers and troops are deployed, including in Abyei, a disputed territory claimed by Sudan and South Sudan, and Somalia, where thousands of Ethiopian troops have been helping the government fight Islamist al-Shabab militants. As many as 40 Tigrayan officers and soldiers serving in the African Union Mission in Somalia have also been recalled to Ethiopia, according to one diplomatic source.
At Ethiopia’s U.N. mission in New York, the senior military attaché who oversaw peacekeeping issues, a Tigrayan, was fired after just months on the job, precipitating the purge of other Tigrayan officers from peacekeeping missions abroad, diplomatic sources said.
Ethiopia has seen deepening conflict between the country’s Tigray minority—which accounts for just over 6 percent of the population but played a dominant role in Ethiopia’s political life for decades, and whose status was reinforced under Meles Zenawi, an ethnic Tigrayan who served as prime minister and president of Ethiopia from 1991 until his death in August 2012—and the country’s largest ethnic groups including the Amhara and Oromo, who account for more than 60 percent of the county’s population.
Tigray’s War Against Ethiopia Isn’t About Autonomy. It’s About Economic Power.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is fighting the country’s revanchist old regime, which is intent on recapturing the economic and political influence it once held.
It’s Not Too Late to Stop the Ethiopian Civil War From Becoming a Broader Ethnic Conflict
Western and regional powers are more divided than they were during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s, but they can still exert influence to prevent the fragmentation of Ethiopia’s federal system.
During Meles’s tenure, Tigrayans were given key posts in the government and the military, and they continue to hold key leadership positions in overseas peacekeeping missions, raising questions about the ability of Ethiopian contingents to function following a purge. But the Tigrayans’ privileged position has been threatened since the election of Abiy, an ethnic Oromo, in 2018.
The latest crisis follows a recent dispute between the federal government and the Tigrayan regional government over the decision to postpone national and regional elections in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Tigray’s local leaders went ahead with an election, which resulted in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) winning all the seats. The federal parliament declared the vote null, and federal troops are seeking to impose military control over the Tigray region.The conflict in Ethiopia has killed hundreds—and perhaps thousands—of people and sparked a new refugee crisis in what is historically one of the most politically unstable regions of the world. Some 30,000 refugees have fled from Ethiopia into neighboring Sudan in recent weeks, fueling concerns that the new refugee influx could destabilize Sudan’s fragile transitional government.
Senior U.S. officials have called for an end to hostilities and independent investigations into the reports of civilian massacres.
“The ethnic dimension is one that everybody is very concerned about,” said Tibor Nagy, the top State Department diplomat on Africa, in a briefing with reporters on Nov. 19.
Nagy also condemned the TPLF’s reported missile attacks on neighboring Eritrea earlier this month, calling it an attempt to “internationalize the conflict” that “make
the situation more dangerous.”The conflict has also taken on an economic lens. “This war is ultimately a battle for control of Ethiopia’s economy, its natural resources, and the billions of dollars the country receives annually from international donors and lenders,” Kassahun Melesse, an assistant professor of applied economics at Oregon State University, wrote recently in Foreign Policy. “Access to those riches is a function of who heads the federal government—which the TPLF controlled for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in April 2018, following widespread protests against the TPLF-led government.”
“In other words, this is not a conflict over who gets to rule Tigray, a small region whose population accounts for a mere 6 percent of Ethiopia’s more than 110 million people,” Melesse wrote. “It is a fight over who gets to dominate the commanding heights of the country’s economy, a prize that Tigray’s regional leaders once held and are determined to recapture at any cost.”
That struggle is playing out in U.N. peacekeeping missions.
Ethiopia is one of the two largest contributors to U.N. peacekeeping missions, with more than 6,700 uniformed personnel, most serving in Darfur, Abyei, and South Sudan. Tigrayans have played a key role in U.N. peacekeeping operations.
Earlier this month, Ethiopia recalled more than 3,000 troops from Somalia to reinforce its military operations against the Tigrayans. The government disarmed between 200 and 300 Tigrayan soldiers who were posted in Somalia, U.S. and U.N. officials said.
“The peacekeepers are not being disarmed due to ethnicity but due to infiltration of TPLF elements in various entities which is part of an ongoing investigation,” an Ethiopian government task force told Reuters, which previously reported on the Tigrayan soldiers in Somalia being disarmed.
“All officers and soldiers from Tigray were arrested and detained upon arrival in Addis,” according to the U.N. account reviewed by Foreign Policy. “There are reports that some have been subjected to torture and extra-judicial killing.”
Privately, U.S. officials fear that the massive withdrawal of troops will leave Somalia, already one of the world’s most fragile states, in a precarious position and vulnerable to new offensives from terrorist groups such as al-Shabab.
In Abyei, the U.N.’s Tigrayan deputy force commander, Brig. Gen. Negassi Tikue Lewte, disappeared from the U.N.’s radar after traveling to Addis Ababa earlier this month. The brigadier general—who is serving under a U.N. contract—made a request for leave on Nov. 15. Shortly after, Ethiopia sent the U.N. a diplomatic note informing it to find another officer to fill the position.
“He was apparently recalled to Ethiopia and since then his whereabouts seem unknown,” according to the internal U.N. account.
The purge has raised complicated legal and political challenges for the U.N., which traditionally defers to foreign military contingents to manage troop rotations and handle disciplinary issues. The Ethiopian government has privately insisted that the repatriated Tigrayan troops and officers are simply on leave. But at least one of the officers, the deputy force commander in Abyei, is serving under a U.N. contract, imposing a greater responsibility on the U.N. to ensure his protection.
The U.N.’s peacekeeping department’s spokesperson, Nick Birnback, confirmed that the organization is “aware of the issue; we are very concerned and we are taking this matter extremely seriously.”
“At the moment, we are ascertaining all the relevant facts and we are or will be in touch with all relevant peace operations and governments in this regard,” Birnback added. “All troop-contributing countries have obligations under applicable international law, in accordance with relevant norms, standards and instruments.”
The Ethiopian missions in the United States did not respond to requests for comment. But human rights advocates have voiced concern about the reports.
“If reports of discriminatory Ethiopian repatriation of ethnic Tigrayan peacekeepers are true, they are deeply disturbing, given credible reports of profiling and arbitrary arrest of ethnic Tigrayans in Ethiopia,” said Louis Charbonneau, the U.N. director for Human Rights Watch.
“If the reports are confirmed, the U.N. should also consider suspending Ethiopian participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations,” Charbonneau added. “The U.N. needs to send a clear message to all governments that it will not ignore abuses against peacekeepers serving under the U.N. flag.”
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has given the Tigray Special Forces, militia and junta 72 hours to surrender.
In a statement last night, he said “the operation is on its final stage and you have 72 hours to surrender to the government.”
He further urged residents of the city of Mekelle to do their parts in the effort to realize the law enforcement operation and bring criminal elements to justice.
“We call upon the people of Mekelle to play a key role in bringing this treasonous group to justice by standing in solidarity with the national defence forces,” he said.
“No lives should be lost and no property should be destroyed for the sake of a few greedy individuals that are seeking impunity using their own people as shields.”
According to the Premier, the cooperation of the people of Mekelle will play an important role and will minimize the damage.
The National Defence Forces have so far taken control of Dansha, Humera, Shire, Shiraro, Axum, Adwa, Adigrat, Alamata, Chercher, Mehoni, Korem and other places.
The people of Tigray living in areas liberated from the junta have shown their huge support to the defense force, he said.
The Prime Minister finally called on Ethiopians to join efforts of the government to rehabilitate those individuals affected during the operation and repair damaged infrastructures.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Tigrayan forces said on Tuesday they had destroyed an Ethiopian army division in battles to control the northern region where a three-week-old war has killed hundreds and spread global alarm.
Tents belonging to Ethiopian refugees fleeing from the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, are seen at the Um-Rakoba camp, on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the Al-Qadarif state, Sudan
The federal government denied that and said many Tigrayan soldiers were surrendering in line with a 72-hour ultimatum before a threatened attack on the regional capital Mekelle.Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s troops launched an offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) local government on Nov. 4 and say they are closing in on Mekelle in a final push to win the conflict.
But the battle-hardened TPLF say their troops are keeping the federal army at bay and scoring some big victories.
Their spokesman Getachew Reda told Tigray TV a prestigious army unit – which he termed the 21st mechanised division – had been “completely destroyed” in an assault at Raya-Wahirat led by a former commander of that unit now fighting for the TPLF.
Billene Seyoum, the prime minister’s spokeswoman, told Reuters that was not true.
Reuters has been unable to verify statements made by either side since phone and internet connections to Tigray are down and access to the area is strictly controlled.
Hundreds have died, tens of thousands of refugees have fled to Sudan and there is widespread destruction and uprooting of people from homes, security and aid sources say.
The conflict has spread to Eritrea, where the TPLF has fired rockets, and also affected Somalia where Ethiopia has disarmed several hundred Tigrayans in a peacekeeping force fighting al Qaeda-linked militants.
‘TRAGIC CONFLICT’
The United States, which regards Ethiopia as a powerful ally in a turbulent region, became the latest nation to call for peace, saying it supported African Union (AU) mediation efforts “to end this tragic conflict now.”
Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for ending a standoff with Eritrea, has said he will not negotiate with the TPLF though he does plan to receive AU envoys.
He has given Tigrayan forces until Wednesday to surrender or face an assault on the highland city of Mekelle, home to about half a million people.
A government taskforce said large numbers of Tigrayan militia and special forces had surrendered and it asked others still with the TPLF to disarm wherever they were.
TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael has disputed the government version that Mekelle is encircled at a roughly 50km (31 mile) distance and told Reuters the ultimatum, which ends on Wednesday, was a cover for government forces to regroup after defeats.
The U.S. embassy in Eritrea’s capital Asmara, where TPLF rockets have fallen near the airport, issued an alert saying it had reports that neighbourhood wardens advised residents to remain indoors at the instruction of local officials.
“All U.S. Citizens in Asmara are advised to continue to exercise caution, remain in their homes, and conduct only essential travel until further notice,” the embassy said.
France also expressed concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, condemned “ethnic violence” and called for protection of civilians.
Abiy, whose parents are from the larger Oromo and Amhara groups, denies any ethnic overtones to his offensive against the TPLF, saying he is pursuing criminals who have revolted against the federal government and ambushed a military base.
The TPLF says he wants to subdue Tigray to amass more personal power. Since taking office in 2018, the prime minister has removed many Tigrayans from positions in government and the security forces and arrested some on charges of corruption and human rights abuses, even though he was their former military comrade and coalition partner.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
People have begun to understand Abiy Ahmed only since War on Tigray but he by his very nature was born anti-democracy, anti-human rights, blood lust. He was a chief spy, killer before 2018. butchered 10s of 1000s since 2018, directly assassinated 10s of high profile people.Ethiopia Autonomous Media
They are committing genocide on Tigray people.
Dictators never fail to appreciate each other. Have destroyed yemen. Now, it’s ethiopian turn.They are committing genocide on Tigray people.But, UN and African Union are unable to stop this 21 century genocide happening in Tigray, Ethiopia. The UAE drones are bombing civilians.Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Ethiopia’s government is again warning residents of the besieged capital of the embattled Tigray region as the clock ticks on a 72-hour ultimatum before a military assault, saying “anything can happen.”Senior official Redwan Hussein told reporters Monday that the Tigray regional leaders are “hiding out in a densely populated city; the slightest strike would end up losing lives.”
Human rights groups and others were alarmed over the weekend when Ethiopia’s military warned civilians in the Tigray capital, Mekele, that there would be “no mercy” if they don’t “save themselves” before the offensive to flush out defiant regional leaders. Amnesty International warns that deliberately attacking civilians and civilian objects “is prohibited under international humanitarian law and constitutes war crimes.”
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, issued a 72-hour ultimatum Sunday for the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, to surrender.
Redwan said that Mekele, a city of around 500,000 people, is now encircled at a distance of about 50 kilometers (30 miles), and with rougher terrain left behind “what remains is the plain land, easier for tanks.”
He added, “by providing a brute fact, it is letting people to understand the reality and make the right choice.” Ethiopia’s government is urging Mekele residents to separate themselves from the TPLF leaders in time.
Ethiopia’s government again rejected international pleas for dialogue with the TPLF leaders, regarding them as criminals on the run.
The heavily-armed TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for more than a quarter century before Abiy came to power and introduced sweeping political reforms and sidelined TPLF officials. Now, each government sees the other as illegal, with the TPLF objecting to the delay of national elections because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Abiy’s government infuriated by the Tigray region defiantly holding its own vote in September.
Civilians are caught in the middle of what some experts have described as a conflict akin to an inter-state war. The TPLF alone has been estimated to have a quarter-million fighters.
“I can tell you that we remain extremely concerned about the safety of civilians in the Tigray region, especially the more than half a million people – including more than 200 aid workers – who remain in Mekele following information that fighting might move into the city in the coming hours,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.
He also called for “free, safe and unhindered humanitarian access” to the Tigray region, which remains almost completely sealed off from the world with communications severed, roads blocked and airports closed.
A humanitarian disaster is unfolding both inside and outside the Tigray region. Food, fuel and medical and other supplies are running desperately low in the Tigray region and the U.N. says around 2 million people there urgently need aid.
Meanwhile, nearly 40,000 Ethiopians have now fled into Sudan to escape the fighting, severely burdening local communities in the remote region as humanitarians struggle to hurry food and shelter to the area.
Ethiopia Autonomous Media
Thousands have been killed in the fighting, and 40,000 fled to Sudan, where they face food shortages – including over 300 malnourished children.
The number of refugees arriving in Sudan has reduced significantly. Over the last two days the average number has been around 700. At the peak of the arrivals, aid agencies recorded nearly 7,000 a day. Little is known about the situation in the ground inside Tigray.
The Um Raquba camp is about 70km from the border. A lot of construction work is still going on – aid agencies building make-shift facilities and refugees putting up shelters.
Tents belonging to Ethiopian refugees fleeing from the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, are seen at the Um-Rakoba camp, on the Sudan-Ethiopia border, in the Al-Qadarif state, Sudan 
People have begun to understand Abiy Ahmed only since War on Tigray but he by his very nature was born anti-democracy, anti-human rights, blood lust. He was a chief spy, killer before 2018. butchered 10s of 1000s since 2018, directly assassinated 10s of high profile people.
Dictators never fail to appreciate each other. Have destroyed yemen. Now, it’s ethiopian turn.They are committing genocide on Tigray people.But, UN and African Union are unable to stop this 21 century genocide happening in Tigray, Ethiopia. The UAE drones are bombing civilians.
