Tigray conflict - The African Mirror

Sep

2021

U.S. paves way for more sanctions over Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict

DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS THE United States on Friday paved the way for further sanctions to be imposed on parties to the conflict in northern Ethiopia, where thousands have been killed and millions are in need of humanitarian assistance. A new executive order allows Washington to take punitive action against those in the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Amhara regional government if they continue to pursue military conflict over negotiations, senior U.S. administration officials said. The move, which increases pressure on the parties to come to the negotiating table and bring an end to the…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Ethiopians criticise UStates at rally

NEWS

DAWIT ENDESHAW ETHIOPIAN pro-government demonstrators denounced the United States yesterday for imposing restrictions on aid over the Tigray conflict, at a massive rally organised by the authorities to show support for their positions. More than 10,000 people attended the rally, some carrying banners written in English, Arabic and Amharic. Slogans included: "USA show us your neutrality", "Ethiopia doesn't need a caretaker", and "Fill the dam", a reference to a huge Nile dam opposed by Egypt and Sudan. The demonstration was larger than typical pro-government rallies, and the public criticism of the United States was rare. Ethiopia is facing increasing international…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Almost 5 000 children separated in Tigray

NEWS

AYENAT MERSIE CONFLICT in Ethiopia's Tigray region has separated nearly 5,000 children from their parents, Save the Children said yesterday. Many children now live in crowded conditions, often sleeping in rooms with dozens of unrelated adults, leaving them vulnerable to abuse, Save the Children said. Fighting between the federal government and forces in the northern region broke out in November and is believed to have killed thousands and displaced more than a million people. Save the Children's account was borne out by one young girl, who told Reuters how she had come home to find both her parents gone. Freweyni,…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

EU suspends Ethiopian budget support

NEWS

THE European Union has suspended budget support for Ethiopia worth 88 million euros ($107 million) until humanitarian agencies are granted access to people in need of aid in the northern Tigray region. In a blog post, the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed now needed to live up to the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded in 2019 by doing all it takes to end the conflict in Tigray. "We are ready to help, but unless there is access for humanitarian aid operators, the EU cannot disburse the planned budget support to the Ethiopian government,"…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia says war ending, with most Tigray leaders dead or caught

NEWS

ETHIOPIA said it had captured or killed most commanders of a rebellious northern force, while Tigray's fugitive local leader countered on Friday that civilians were protesting against looting by occupying soldiers. Neither side gave proof for their assertions about the month-long war in the mountainous region bordering Eritrea where phone communications have been down and access severely restricted. Fighting between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's federal army and forces loyal to the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), erupted on November 4. Thousands of people are believed to have died while more than 45,000 refugees have crossed…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

United Nations and Ethiopia reach aid pact for war-hit Tigray

NEWS

ETHIOPIA and the United Nations have agreed to channel desperately-needed humanitarian aid to a northern region where a month of war has killed, wounded and uprooted thousands. The pact, announced by U.N. officials, gives aid workers access to government-controlled areas of Tigray, where federal troops have been battling the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and captured the regional capital. The war is believed to have killed thousands, sent 45,000 refugees into Sudan, displaced many more within Tigray and worsened suffering in a region where 600,000 people already depended on food aid even before the flare-up from November 4. As hundreds…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia war may turn into guerrilla insurgency, experts say

NEWS

ETHIOPIA’S nearly month-long war against rebellious northern forces may be transforming into a guerrilla conflict, experts have said, even though federal troops declared victory after capturing the Tigrayan regional capital at the weekend. Fighting since November 4 is believed to have killed thousands of people, as well as forcing refugees into Sudan, dragging in Eritrea, and worsening hunger and suffering among Tigray's more than 5 million people. Reports of clashes between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's soldiers and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) were still coming out of the region, though communications remain largely cut and outside access blocked. Abiy…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

In Sudan camp, a Tigray farmer once displaced by famine now shelters from war

NEWS

SEHAM ELORABY and BAZ RATNER ETHIOPIAN farmer Berhan Halie came to Sudan 35 years ago to escape hunger. Now 65 and walking with a stick, he is back again, this time to escape the bullets and bombs of the conflict in Tigray, fleeing from his village as neighbours lay dead on the ground. Berhan and his family spent days walking to the border crossing with Sudan, among more than 45,000 who have fled from fighting between the Ethiopian government and rebellious Tigray forces. After crossing two weeks ago, he was brought by bus to the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia’s Abiy relishes victory, Tigrayan leader says war unfinished

NEWS

ETHIOPIA’S Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has lauded his troops for their victory over a rebellious northern movement, but the leader of Tigrayan forces said they were still resisting amid fears of a protracted guerrilla conflict. The nearly month-long war has killed hundreds and probably thousands of people, sent refugees into Sudan, enmeshed Eritrea, and stirred rivalries among Ethiopia's myriad ethnic groups. Federal forces captured Tigray's capital Mekelle at the weekend and declared victory over the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a guerrilla movement-turned-political party that had dominated national government for nearly three decades until 2018. "Our constitution was attacked but…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian military operation in Tigray region is over, hunt for Tigray leaders begins

NEWS

THE Ethiopian government launched a manhunt for leaders of a rebellious faction in the northern region of Tigrayafter announcing federal troops had taken over the regional capital and military operations were complete. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed government has been trying to quell a rebellion by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a powerful ethnically-based party that dominated the central government from 1991 until Abiy came to power in 2018. He said on Saturday evening federal troops had taken control of the Tigrayan capital Mekelle within hours of launching an offensive there, laying to rest fears of protracted fighting in the…