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The G-7 group of nations issued a strong statement on Friday, calling for the “swift, unconditional and verifiable” withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the region after reports of massacres and widespread sexual violence there.
Ethiopian soldiers travel in a truck near the city of Adigrat, Tigray region, Ethiopia, on March 18, 2021. (Reuters)
Ethiopia has said that Eritrean troops fighting in the conflict-affected Tigray region “began to evacuate” a day after the G7 group of leading nations called for their swift withdrawal.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced last week that Eritrean forces would leave Tigray, in the north of the country, just three days after finally acknowledging their presence amid growing reports of massacres and widespread sexual violence.
But residents of some cities and towns in Tigray have continued to report the presence of Eritrean soldiers in recent days, and the G7 said in a statement on Friday that their departure “must be swift, unconditional and verifiable.”
In a response posted online Saturday night, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry said the process had begun.
“As announced last week, Eritrean troops who had crossed the border when provoked by the TPLF have now begun to evacuate,” the statement said, adding that the Ethiopian army has now “taken over border surveillance. national”.
READ MORE: Videos reveal Ethiopia massacre of civilians: ‘We show no mercy’
Press release: Activated # G7 Declaration of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs on the situation in #Tigray. @mfaethiopia pic.twitter.com/PQHM41tJzb
– MFA Ethiopia🇪🇹 (@mfaethiopia) April 3, 2021
With @ G7 Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, express our deep concern about the violations and abuses of human rights and the violations of international humanitarian law in #Tigray. #AUEU
Joint statement: https://t.co/R5fKxEydL2
– José Borrell (@JosepBorrellF) April 2, 2021
Massacre and abuse
The TPLF is the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the former ruling party in Tigray that dominated national politics in Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Abiy took power in 2018.
Abiy sent troops to Tigray in November, a move he said came in response to TPLF-orchestrated attacks on federal army camps.
Addis Ababa and Asmara have long denied that Eritreans were active in Tigray, contradicting testimony from residents, human rights groups, humanitarian workers, diplomats and even some Ethiopian civil and military officials.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have accused Eritrean troops of massacring hundreds of people in the town of Axum in Tigray in November.
AFP has separately documented a massacre allegedly carried out by Eritrean troops in the city of Dengolat, also in November.
The acting leader of Tigray, Mulu Nega, said this week that the withdrawal was “a process” and would not happen immediately.
Massacres perpetrated by Eritrean troops in Axum in Ethiopia …
Daily summary: https://t.co/uPtI9Dm5Z8 pic.twitter.com/HM1GwuIiD0
– Human Rights Watch (@hrw) March 5, 2021
Help ‘too low’
Friday’s G7 statement also called for an “independent, transparent and impartial investigation” of alleged human rights abuses and “unimpeded humanitarian access.”
The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry statement on Saturday said a joint investigation involving “international human rights experts” would begin soon.
He also said that foreign aid to respond to the conflict remains “too low.”
“It has been made very clear to the international community that the Ethiopian government has done everything possible to reach more than 4.2 million people, while the supply from international partners is well below a third of what needed”. He said.
Abiy declared victory at Tigray after federal forces seized the regional capital, Mekele, in late November.
But fighting has continued in recent weeks, especially in central and southern Tigray, and the International Crisis Group warned on Friday that the conflict risks turning into a protracted “stalemate.”
READ MORE: The UN warns of the crisis in Tigray in Ethiopia and calls for an end to the murders and rapes
Source: AFP
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