The Ethiopian power ensures freeing Dessie and Kombolcha. Since Premier Abiy Ahmed said he would lead the field operations in late November, his government has claimed a series of victories against the Tigrayans.
Le Monde
The Ethiopian government said Monday, December 6, having taken the strategic towns of Dessie and Kombolcha in the north of the country. “The historic town of Dessie and Kombolcha, commercial and industrial city, were released by the brave security forces,” government communications service said on Twitter.
There is just one month, the rebels of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) threatened Addis Ababa, after taking control of Dessie and Kombolcha, located on a highway linking the capital to the north of the country and Djibouti. They claimed to have reached Shewa Robit, 220 kilometers north-east of Addis Ababa.
But since Prime Minister Ahmed Abiy, assured that he would lead the field operations in late November, his government has claimed a series of victories against the rebels. Quoted by the state Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation chain, Mr. Abiy said the rebels had suffered “heavy losses and [were] unable to withstand the onslaught” of the army allied with several pro-government militias. “We will fight the enemy and victory will continue,” said he said.
Wednesday, 2 December, the government announced that its forces had taken over the site of Lalibela, famous for its churches carved into the rock and World Heritage of Unesco, which had fallen to Tigray fighters in August.
The spokesman TPLF Getachew Reda, said Monday night on Twitter that the rebels had withdrawn from several cities, including Kombolcha and Dessie, and that “this f [ed] part of [their] plane “. On Sunday, the leader of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, denied that the government is trying to regain the advantage, ensuring that the rebels were carrying out a strategic reorganization and remained unbeaten. “The enemy becomes stronger, so we must be strong and intensify our fight,” he said.
Thousands of deaths in a year
The conflict began in November 2020 when Abiy Ahmed sent troops in Tigray, the northernmost of Ethiopia, to overthrow the TPLF, in response, he said, with rebel attacks against camps of ‘army. Insurgents then launched a major offensive against-taking up most of the Tigray in June, before pushing into neighboring Amhara and Afar. The conflict took a new turn there is a month when the TPLF claimed to have taken Dessie and Kombolcha, without excluding march on the capital.
This escalation has sparked panic among Western governments, several states, such as the United States, Canada and France, have asked their nationals to leave the country quickly.
The UN says fighting has caused thousands of deaths, more than 2 million displaced and plunged hundreds of thousands of people in conditions of near starvation. Massacres and mass rape committed by both camps have been identified. Until now, diplomatic efforts by the African Union to try to reach a cease-fire allowed no decisive progress.
The Western countries are concerned about arbitrary arrests
Earlier on Monday, the United States and its Western allies have sounded the alarm, worrying reports that the Ethiopian government would have arbitrarily arrested scores of people on an ethnic basis.
Together with Australia, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the United States requested the Ethiopian government to “immediately stop” the arrests, saying that “many of these acts are probably violations of international law. “