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Ethiopia said on Thursday that its joint forces have released more than 1,000 senior military officers and soldiers who had been held hostage for weeks by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Major General Mohammed Tessema, Director General of Indoctrination of the National Defense Force, said among those released was Brigadier General Adamneh Mengste, deputy commander of the Northern Command force, who had been stationed in Mekele, La capital of the restless Tigray region.
The military official said that the released members of the Northern Command Force were kidnapped by the TPLF on the night of November 4 after they were invited to a dinner by the former regional ruling party turned insurgent group.
He said the senior officers were released without harm after a joint military operation by the Ethiopian National Defense Force and the Federal Police.
“The fugitive TPLF junta had been on the run with their hostages for about a month when they were held in a place called Adet, a remote area that was the TPLF’s command base during the armed struggle that brought them to power earlier in the decade. of 1990, dismissing the then Marxist regime, known as Derg, which ruled the country for 17 years with an iron fist, “said Major General Mohammed.
“The TPLF clique could not resist the military operation carried out by the defense force and the police,” he said, adding that the 1,000 senior officers and military officers have rejoined the national army.
Major General Mohammed said the joint operation to hunt down, arrest and bring TPLF leaders to justice has been intensified.
He added that the arrest of the group’s leaders from the ‘junta’ and the perpetrators will be announced to the public in the future.
Intense conflict
Conflict in the northern Tigray region erupted in early November after the TPLF reportedly attacked federal forces based in the region.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused the TPLF of “crossing the red line” and on November 4 officially ordered a military operation to arrest and bring its leaders to justice.
Subsequently, national forces swept through Tigray, conducting air strikes supported by modern military installations, including drones.
The TPLF, which accused neighboring Eritrea of participating in the fighting, began firing rockets at the Red Sea nation to internationalize the conflict.
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After the capture of the capital, Mekele, and other important cities and towns, the Abiy government announced that the military operation in Tigray had ended.
However, TPLF said the fight was “far from over” and vowed to continue.
“We will continue to fight until the invaders are out of Tigray territory,” TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremicheal told the AP.
Since fighting began between the TPLF and Ethiopian government forces, more than 40,000 civilians have fled to Sudan.
The United Nations estimates that this number could rise to 200,000 in the next six months, as the fighting has reportedly continued.
The two sides have also exchanged accusations of human rights abuses and massacres perpetrated on ethnic grounds.
A communications blackout in the region has made it impossible to independently verify reports on the humanitarian situation and the number of victims of the fighting.
