According to Getachew Reda, the TPLF spokesperson, the typerian forces are retiring to “open the door” with humanitarian aid.
Le Monde with AFP
The Ethiopian rebels of the Tiger, who had advanced in recent months in the neighboring regions of the Amhara and Afar, are retiring in order to “open the door” to humanitarian aid, Advertised at AFP their spokesperson, Monday, December 20th. This announcement opens up a new phase of this deadly conflict that has been overwhelmingly overwhelmed by the stewardship rebels and triggered a deep humanitarian crisis.
“We decided to withdraw from these areas toward the Tiger,” said Getachew Reda, spokesman for the People’s Liberation Front of the Tiger (TPLF). So far, the TPLF described “absolutely not possible” the withdrawal of these two regions, claimed by the government as a prerequisite for negotiations. For their part, the rebels required federal authorities that they put an end to the “Humanitarian Headquarters of Tiger.
“We are doing withdrawals phase by phase. We started withdrawing our strength a few weeks ago, we announce it now,” said Getachew, stating that the rebels “left” Lalibela. This city ranked by UNESCO World Heritage of Humanity, famous for its churches carved in the ROC dating from XII e and XIII e centuries, several times changed of hands, like other localities.
Since the end of October, the two parties have claimed each of the major territorial advances, but the communications are cut into combat zones and access of journalists is restricted, making any independent verification of positions on the ground. For a while, the rebels affirmed about 200 km from the capital, Addis Ababa. At the end of November, the state media had announced the arrival on the front of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to carry out a “counter-offensive”. The government then claimed several victories.
More than 2 million displaced
The war broke out in November 2020 after Abiy Ahmed sent the federal army to the northern Tiger Region in order to dismiss the local authorities, from the TPLF, which defied his authority and that he accused of Have attacked military bases. Abiy Ahmed had proclaimed the victory three weeks later, after taking the regional capital, Makale. But in June, the TPLF resumed most of the Tiger, and then advanced in the neighboring areas of AFAR and the Amhara.
The conflict has made several thousand deaths, more than 2 million displaced and plunged hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians under conditions close to famine, according to the UN. The organization had suspended in October the humanitarian flights between Addis Ababa and Makale, where the government led to air strikes. The flights resumed in November. Fears of a rebel march on the capital have prompted several countries – including the United States, France and the United Kingdom – to ask their citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible.
Friday, the UN has given its green light to an international investigation mechanism on the abuses committed in Ethiopia. Intense diplomatic efforts carried out by the African Union (AU) to try to reach a ceasefire have so far allowed no decisive progress.