Amhara region - The African Mirror

Aug

2021

Fighting displaces 200 000 in Ethiopia’s Amhara region

UNITED Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths has revealed that 200,000 people have been displaced by fighting in Ethiopia's Amhara region and 54,000 in its Afar region. In recent weeks fighting has spread into the two regions neighbouring Tigray, where a war erupted eight months ago between Ethiopia's central government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). "We need 100 trucks a day going into Tigray to meet humanitarian needs," Griffiths told reporters in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, adding that the number was a "calculated need" and not "overestimated." The U.N. aid chief said also 122 trucks made it into Tigray…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Young men mobilise against Tigray forces

NEWS

MAGGIE FICK and DAWIT ENDESHAW RESIDENTS of Ethiopia's Amhara region said some young men were responding to a weekend call to arms by their president, as Amhara's government denied that forces from neighbouring Tigray had advanced further into the region. An eight-month-old war between Ethiopia's central government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that controls Tigray, has spread to neighbouring parts of northern Ethiopia, risking further destabilisation of Africa's second-most populous nation. On Sunday Agegnehu Teshager, president of the Amhara regional government had called on "all young people" to take up arms against TPLF fighters, who say…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Tigray release 1 000 soldiers, 5000 still held

NEWS

GIULIA PARAVICINI and GEORGE OBULUTSA FORCES in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have released around 1,000 government soldiers captured during recent fighting, the head of its ruling party said, as both sides prepared for a showdown over contested land in the west of the region. Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters by satellite phone late that they have released 1,000 low-ranking soldiers. "More than 5,000 (soldiers) are still with us, and we will keep the senior officers who will face trial," he said. He said the soldiers had been driven to Tigray's southern border with…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Fears of new phase of civil war in Ethiopia

NEWS

DAWIT ENDESHAW ETHIOPIA’S Amhara region has declared that it will go on the offensive against forces from the neighbouring Tigray region, as advancing Tigrayans bear down on Amhara-held territory, potentially opening a major new phase in Ethiopia's civil war. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has recaptured most of its home region in the past three weeks after an abrupt reversal in an eight-month war, has vowed to retake western Tigray, an expanse of fertile territory controlled by Amhara forces who seized it during the conflict. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who abruptly pulled central government troops out of most…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Tigray rebels capture main town

NEWS

REBELS in Ethiopia's Tigray region claim they had recaptured a main town from rival forces and were pushing to take back more territory. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the claim because communication links to the region are down. War broke out last November between Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and Ethiopian federal forces. The government declared victory three weeks later when it seized the regional capital Mekelle, but the TPLF kept fighting. It recaptured Mekelle last month and now controls most of Tigray. But some parts in the west and south are also claimed by…