Fighting again broke out in Northern Ethiopia after five-month of calm. The fighting resumed on Wednesday, as Ethiopian authorities accused the Tigray rebels of launching a new offensive against federal forces in the country’s north, five months after a truce.
BASIC FACTS
- Fighting restarted at the Ethiopian Tigray region on Wednesday, and the Ethiopian government accused the Tigray rebels of breaking the five months truce.
- The Tigray rebels also blame the Ethiopian government of not respecting the ceasefire agreements.
- The Ethiopian conflict has been on for 21 months now.
WHAT WE WANT
Fighting erupted between government forces and Tigrayan rebels in northern Ethiopia on Wednesday, ending the five-month truce between the warring sides.
This is as the warrying parties are still in disagreement over the choice of the African Union envoy who will lead the mediation effort by the regional body.
For the Ethiopian government, any negotiations must be led by the African Union’s Horn of Africa envoy, former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is leading the international push for peace, while the TPLF insist on the outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta leading the negotiations for peace.
The rekindled warfare follows both sides repeatedly blaming the other for lack of progress towards negotiations to end the brutal 21-month conflict in Africa’s second most populous nation.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said government forces and their allies had launched a “large scale” offensive towards southern Tigray early Wednesday after a months-long lull in fighting.
However, the Government Communication Service accused the TPLF of striking first, saying it had “destroyed the truce”.
The claims by both sides have not been independently verified as access to northern Ethiopia is restricted, but there were reports of fighting around southern Tigray in areas bordering the Amhara and Afar regions.
Last March, a truce which paused fighting in a war that first began in November 2020, to allow resumption of international aid to war-stricken Tigray after a three-month break.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the TPLF have engaged in a war of words in recent weeks even as both sides have raised the prospect of peace talks.
The government and TPLF disagree on who should lead negotiations. The TPLF has insisted that basic services must be restored to Tigray’s six million people before dialogue can begin.
For the Ethiopian government, any negotiations must be led by the African Union’s Horn of Africa envoy, former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who is leading the international push for peace, while the TPLF insist on the outgoing Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta leading the negotiations for peace.
Last Tuesday, the Ethiopian National Defence Force had issued a statement accusing the TPLF of seeking to “defame” the army by claiming government forces were moving towards their positions or shelling them with heavy weapons.
Last week, UN’s World Food Programme had said nearly half the population in Tigray is suffering from a severe lack of food. This is because the Ethiopian government has blocked access to food supply to the region.
The UN agency statement came despite the March truce allowing the resumption of desperately needed international aid convoys to Tigray’s capital Mekele, with fuel shortages making it difficult to distribute supplies.
Before March, Tigray was cut off from the rest of Ethiopia, denying the region of basic services such as electricity, communications and banking.
NOTABLE QUOTES
In a statement on Wednesday, the Ethiopian government said,
“Disregarding the numerous peace options presented by the Ethiopian government, the armed wing of the terror group TPLF, pushing with its recent provocations starting 5 am (0200 GMT) today committed an attack” around southern Tigray.
The TPLF spokesman, Getachew Reda on the other hand, told AFP in Nairobi in a brief message:
“They launched the offensive early this morning around 5 am local time. We are defending our positions,”
On his Twitter page, he stated, “The large-scale offensive was launched “against our positions in the southern front” by the Ethiopian army and special forces and militias from neighbouring Amhara
The UNITED World Food Programme said concerning the situation, “Hunger has deepened, rates of malnutrition have skyrocketed, and the situation is set to worsen as people enter peak hunger season until this year’s harvest in October,”
FLASHBACK
This conflict started in November 2020, just about one year after the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the 2019 Nobel peace.
The conflict started after months of tension between the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Abiy had sent in troops to flush the TPLF, the consequences of that action, is this conflict that has created a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with millions of people needing humanitarian assistance.
What Abiy thought would have been an easy ride worsen when the TPLF successful comeback led to the recapturing of Tigray, taking of Afar and Amhara, before both side locked in a standstill.
TAKEAWAY
The story of Africa is one of conflict and hunger. As conflict takes centre stage, development takes the back seat.
Ethiopian once peaceful, without a colonial history but an ancient civilization that dates back to Bible days, have all that shattered in just a few years. First, it was Eritrean, now Tigray.
When will African leaders learn to put their personal ego in check? When will African leaders think of development rather than war? War is terrible but it becomes worse when hunger is used as a weapon, especially against civilians, women and children.
Clariform News desk holds the view that both sides should as soon as practically possible return to the negotiating table to end this crisis.
