Rebel forces launch new offensive on Tigray
The situation in Ethiopia is worsening. Rebel forces have confirmed the launch of a new offensive in the Tigray region, two weeks after the federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire in the face of rebel advances.
According to AFP, a spokesman for the rebel forces, Getachew Reda, confirmed to AFP that they have taken Alamata, the main town in southern Tigray, after launching a new offensive. Reda also told AFP that fighting was also taking place in western Tigray. However, AFP stressed that it was unable to verify this information as no federal army spokesman could be reached to confirm or deny the offensive.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched a military operation in the Tigray region last November aimed at disarming the dissident local authorities of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The government claimed victory with the capture of the capital Mekele, but fighting continues on the ground.
Although this escalation of tension dates back to early November, the friction between the government in the Tigray region and the central government goes back further. Although the TPLF represented 6 per cent of the population, it was the majority political party, which held de facto power in the country through the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, and which, until the arrival of Abiy Ahmed in 2018, had imposed an authoritarian regime dating back to the early 1990s.
After Abiy Ahmed's arrival, this platform of parties, which also included the party of the now prime minister, was dissolved and a new, pan-Ethiopian and therefore less federal, platform was created. Tension between the regional government and the central government has been increasing - in October a vote was taken in favour of a reduction in funds for the region - until on 4 November the prime minister accused the TPLF of attacking a military post and trying to steal artillery. This event marked the beginning of a conflict between the TPLF and the central government.
Different organisations such as Human Rights Watch have warned on multiple occasions of the possibility that this conflict could hide ulterior motives on the part of Abiy Ahmed, the consequences of which could be ethnic cleansing in the northern region of Tigray and even genocide. The fact that the region is subject to a communications blockade, including the internet, as well as physical access to the territory, worries these organisations, which cannot corroborate the situation in which civilians find themselves.
The United States has also expressed its deep concern about these latest reports and condemned any retaliatory attacks against the civilian population in the region. US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters at a press conference that the US "strongly condemns any retaliatory attacks that have been or may be directed against civilians in the Tigray region, whether by organised military or security forces or rogue elements".
In the same vein, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told reporters that the US is considering whether to classify the events in Tigray as crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide.
The conflict in Tigray has killed thousands of people, while nearly two million people have been internally displaced in the region and at least 80,000 Ethiopians have fled to neighbouring Sudan, which borders Tigray, according to UN figures.
