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The federal government says its troops, fighting rebel forces in the country’s northern Tigray region, are now advancing towards the city of Adigrat, at a distance of 120 kilometers from the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle.
Members of a military band arrive at the prime minister’s compound to attend an event honoring the national defense forces, in Addis Ababa, on November 17, 2020 (AFP).
Government forces have captured two cities from rebel forces in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia and Tigrayan fighters have fired rockets at an airport in a neighboring region.
The rocket attack on Bahir Dar, the capital of the Asmara region, raised concerns that the two-week conflict between the Tigrayan rebels and the central government could escalate into a broader war.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said it was making plans for up to 200,000 refugees fleeing to neighboring Sudan.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people have died and tens of thousands of refugees have already fled the fighting in Tigray as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed tries to hold his ethnically diverse nation together.
Ethiopian government forces are making their way to Mekelle, the capital of Tigrayan, from various directions.
In the north, Ethiopian troops took the cities of Axum and Adwa, according to a government statement.
They are now moving towards the city of Adigrat, about 120 km (80 miles) north of Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray and home to about half a million people.
“Many fighters from the junta have surrendered,” the statement said, referring to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
The Tigrayan forces were not available for comment, but in a televised speech, spokesman Getachew Reda said its fighters have inflicted “increasing casualties” in Raya, south of Mekelle.
Tigray fighters have also “eliminated enemy forces” from Mehoni in the south and Zalambessa in the northeast, Tigrayan TV said.
A government spokesman did not return calls seeking comment.
It has been impossible to verify the claims of all parties because telephone lines and Internet links to Tigray have been cut since the conflict began.
Reda’s leadership also claimed responsibility for a rocket attack in the early hours of Friday at the Bahir Dar airport, which the Amhara authorities had announced on the same day.
He said it was in retaliation for the bombardments launched from there.
“We will continue to target any airport that has been used to carry out an attack on Tigray,” he said.
The Amhara government communications office said the rockets caused no damage.
Bahir Dar, the lakeside capital of Amhara, is hundreds of miles from the fighting in Tigray. Tigrayan refugees have told Reuters that Amhara militiamen are fighting on the side of the government. The two regions also have a border dispute.
READ MORE: Ethiopia’s latest airstrike hits Tigray university
Humanitarian emergency
At the Um Rakuba settlement in Sudan, where aid workers are setting up a bush camp for 10,000 refugees mainly from Tigray, those who arrived lined up to buy cornmeal porridge and set up makeshift shelters.
Yohannes Gor, 28, arrived on foot after fleeing the Ethiopian town of Humera, near the border, 10 days ago with only the clothes he was wearing.
“I live under this tree and I sleep on the ground,” he said. “I lost all trace of my family and I don’t know what happened to them.”
Aid agencies fear a humanitarian emergency in Tigray, where hundreds of thousands of people relied on humanitarian aid even before the conflict. Refugees have crowded into boats to cross a river into Sudan, overwhelming aid groups on the other side.
Axel Bisschop of the UN refugee agency UNHCR told a briefing in Geneva that 31,000 refugees had already arrived in Sudan, surpassing a contingency plan for 20,000. “The new planning figure is around 200,000.”
UNICEF Sudan representative Abdullah Fadil was concerned about the impact on Sudan, which is already home to a million refugees from other African wars.
“Our serious concern is that if we do not act quickly with the necessary resources … this could unravel not only Ethiopia but also Sudan,” he said in the same report.
Ethiopia, a federation of 10 ethnic regions, was dominated by Tigrayans for decades in a ruling coalition led by the TPLF, until Abiy, who is of Amhara and Oromo descent, took power two years ago.
He says his goal is to share authority more fairly. The TPLF accuses him of pursuing revenge against former officials.
The conflict erupted two weeks ago after what the government called a TPLF attack on army forces stationed in the region.
READ MORE: Ethiopia’s Abiy government blames rebels for grave crimes in Tigray
Tigray forces blame government for university bombing
On Thursday, Tigray forces accused the government of bombing a university in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. There was no immediate response from the government, although officials have said they are only hitting military targets.
A week ago, Tigray forces fired rockets at two airports in Amhara. They have also fired rockets at the neighboring nation of Eritrea, which has a longstanding enmity with the TPLF leaders. Eritrea made peace with Ethiopia in 2018, earning Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize.
Reports of ethnically motivated killings have emerged. The human rights group Amnesty International documented a mass slaughter of civilians, many of whom appeared to be Amhara, for what it says were Tigrayan forces on November 9 and 10. The Tigray authorities have denied it.
Refugees fleeing to Sudan have said they were targeted for being Tigrayan.
Since taking power, Abiy has freed political prisoners and loosened what was once one of the most repressive political and economic systems in Africa. But the new freedoms have been accompanied by violence as regional chiefs vie for power, money and land.
READ MORE: What is behind the ethnic divide in Ethiopia?
Source: Reuters
