TPLF - 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…

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

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 as no longer ‘centre’ of conflict

NEWS

DAWIT ENDESHAW ETHIOPIAN Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed acknowledged government troops had left Tigray's regional capital Mekelle after months of fighting, saying it was because the city was no longer the "centre of gravity for conflicts". Another government figure said the troops could return in weeks if needed - the first statements by federal officials since Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) forces took the city this week in a major turn of events in the conflict. But a spokesman for the TPLF called Abiy's comments a "lie", saying that government troops lost and were forced to leave Mekelle. He also said…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Hundreds of buildings burned around Tigray town

NEWS

FIRES that appear to have been deliberately set destroyed more than 500 structures this week in and around Ethiopia's Gijet town, an analysis of satellite imagery shared with Reuters has found, adding credence to reports of continued conflict in parts of the northern region of Tigray. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory over a rebellious regional force, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), at the end of November after its fighters withdrew from the region's main cities and towns. But sporadic fighting continues in some parts of Tigray, according to residents and United Nations assessments. The government has acknowledged isolated…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s offer to broker ceasefire in Tigray “unnecesary”

NEWS

KHALID ABDELAZIZ SUDAN’S Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has visited Ethiopia briefly with what three senior Sudanese government officials said was an offer to broker a ceasefire in its northern Tigray region, a proposal Ethiopia said was unnecessary because fighting had stopped. Hamdok, who was accompanied by Sudanese security officials, planned to present his concerns about threats to Sudan's security along its border with Tigray during the visit, the officials said. However, Hamdok returned within a few hours from what Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had earlier described as a two-day trip. Fighting erupted on November 4 between Ethiopia's government and…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

First NGO aid gets to Ethiopia’s Tigray, businesses to re-open

NEWS

THE first non-governmental aid convoy since fighting has arrived in the capital of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, as the government ordered businesses to re-open and officials to return to work. The federal government restricted access to Tigray after fighting began on November 4 between its troops and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that ruled the province. So far the conflict in Africa's second-most populous nation is believed to have killed thousands of people and displaced around 950,000. But the tempo of fighting seems to have slowed since the government announced the capture of the regional capital…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia returning Eritrean refugees to Tigray camps; U.N. concerned over move

NEWS

ETHIOPIA's government has announced it was returning Eritrean refugees to camps they had fled in Tigray, a move that provoked alarm from the United Nations refugee agency after a month-long conflict that is believed to have killed thousands of people in the northern region. The United Nations and other aid agencies say they have been denied access to some 96,000 refugees in Tigray since fighting erupted on November 4 between the government and a rebellious regional force. They believe food is running out at refugee camps there, and have expressed concern about reports of continued clashes in some areas. The…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

U.S. senators seek possible sanctions over Ethiopia conflict abuses

NEWS

TWO U.S. senators have called on their government to consider imposing sanctions on any political or military officials found responsible for human rights violations during a month of conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. The proposed resolution was introduced on Wednesday by Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat, and Senator Jim Risch, a Republican. It was the first such call by U.S. lawmakers since war between Ethiopian federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) broke out on Nov. 4. Senator Ben Cardi The conflict is thought to have killed thousands and displaced more than 950,000 people, according to United…

Dec

2020

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia scorns guerrilla war fears, U.N. team shot at in Tigray

NEWS

ETHIOPIA’S government has denied that northern forces whom its troops have fought for a month would be able to mount a guerrilla insurgency, while diplomats said a United Nations team was shot at while trying to visit a refugee camp. Federal troops have seized the regional capital Mekelle from the former local ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and declared an end to their month-long offensive. But TPLF leaders say they are fighting back on various fronts around Mekelle. Ethiopia experts fear a drawn-out insurgency with a destabilising impact around east Africa. "The criminal clique pushed a patently…