ADDIS ABABA (ETHIOPIA) – On Monday, the Ethiopian government said that federal troops had captured another town in the northern region of Tigray after two weeks of fighting. The conflict has already spilled over into Eritrea and is threatening to create instability in the region.
There are reports that hundreds of people have died and at least 20,000 people have fled to Sudan. And there are allegations of atrocities ever since the prime minister ordered refugees have fled to Sudan and there have been reports of atrocities since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered airstrikes and a ground offensive against the Tigray authorities.
If the conflict continues, it could lead to more ethnic strife and bloodshed, jeopardise the economy which is opening up and mar the reputation of Abiy who won the Noble Prize for peace last year for striking an agreement with Eritrea.
According to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region having a population of more than 5 million people, Eritrea has sent tanks and thousands of troops to support the federal army. However, the government has denied the allegation.
During the weekend, Tigray fighters fired rockets into Eritrea.
According to the task force set up by the government to handle the conflict, federal troops had set free the town of Alamata from the TPLF.
“They fled, taking along around 10,000 prisoners,” it added, without specifying where those were from.
“Residents say many youth above the age of 14 had already fled the area for fear of being recruited by TPLF.”
The conflict has also spread to neighbouring Amhara state where local forces have allied with federal troops sent by Abiy. Rockets were fired at two airports in Amhara on Friday by the TPLF to retaliate against the government airstrikes.
Tigray leaders blame the prime minister, who hails from the Oromo ethnic group, for unleashing persecution on them and removing them from the security forces and the government.
The Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) boasts 140,000 personnel and is well experienced fighting against Islamist rebels in Somalia, rebels in border areas and was also engaged in a 20-year conflict with Eritrea.
However, many senior officers in the federal army are Tigrayan and most of the powerful weapons are stored in the region. The TPLF has seized the powerful Northern Command’s headquarters in Mekelle.
Grapevine has it that members of the federal troops are defecting to the TPLF, which led the rebel march to Addis Ababa that culminated in the ousting of the Marxist dictatorship in 1991. The rebels also bore the brunt of the conflict with Eritrea that left thousands dead.
According to the estimates of the CIA, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who is an enemy of the Tigrayans, commands an army of 200,000 personnel.
Abiy at one time fought with the Tigrayans and had roped them as a coalition partner. But the relationship turned sour in 2018.