Civil War in Tigray

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The civil war in Tigray is a military conflict that began in early November 2020 and has been taking place in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia ever since . The main parties to the civil war are the militias of the regional government of Tigray, which was ousted by the central government of Ethiopia - at the head of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) - on the one hand and the Ethiopian Armed Forces (ENDF) as well as militias from the neighboring region of Amhara and the Armed Forces of Eritrea (EDF) ). All sides, but especially the ENDF and the EDF, committed war crimes.

Beginning of the conflict and development in 2020

The conflict began when the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed - who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his reconciliation policy with Eritrea - canceled the national parliamentary elections planned for August 2020 as well as the regional elections with reference to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia . The Tigray regional government disagreed with the ban on regional elections, but stopped them, which Abiy classified as illegal. In the election in Tigray on September 9, 2020, the TPLF won almost all of the seats.

Many commentators viewed the TPLF's increasing loss of influence on the Ethiopian central government under Abiy Ahmed as the background to the dispute between the central and regional government. The TPLF regional government held parades of Tigray police forces equipped with AK-47 assault rifles and RPG grenade launchers and accused Prime Minister Ahmed of wanting to establish a centralized regime in Ethiopia and of being illegally in office as his term of office has been extended due to the postponed parliamentary election had been.

After several regional army bases in Tigray had been taken over by militias of the regional government, the conflict escalated and Prime Minister Ahmed dispatched troops on November 5, 2020 to defend the attacked bases, secure the heavy weapons located there and imprison the leading TPLF members. A six-month state of emergency was imposed on Tigray, and on November 7, 2020, the Ethiopian parliament declared the Tigray regional government dissolved.

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), around 107,000 people have fled the Tigray region since the start of the offensive until November 12, 2020 . These included at least 17,000 people who sought refuge in neighboring Sudan . According to Amnesty International , human rights crimes against the civilian population occurred, including a massacre of hundreds of ethnic Amharas by a Nigerien youth organization in cooperation with local militias on November 11, 2020 in the border town of May-Kadra. On November 13, 2020, the airports of Gonder and Bahir Dar in Amhara were fired at by TPLF fighters with missiles. Rocket impacts were also recorded near the airport in Asmara , the capital of Eritrea. According to a report by the AP news agency , the shelling was confirmed by the regional government in Tigray and, among other reasons, stated that the Eritrean port city of Assab used drones from the United Arab Emirates in the conflict. The Eritrean government denied involvement in the conflict, but this was questioned by observers and was later admitted (in 2021) by Ethiopia's central government. On November 28, 2020, central government troops finally moved into the provincial capital Mek'ele .

The humanitarian situation will worsen in 2021

According to Welthungerhilfe , over 500,000 people had fled the fighting between the ENDF and the TPLF in the region by January 29, 2021 . More than 60,000 of them sought protection in Sudan. At this time, according to the UN, 2.3 million people in Tigray were also dependent on humanitarian aid. In support of the Ethiopian armed forces, the Eritrean President Isayas Afewerki sent Eritrean soldiers to Tigray against the TPLF, who are also accused of high levels of brutality against the Ethiopian civilian population.

The civil war continued in May 2021. Due to the blockade by the central government and the Eritrean army, insufficient aid deliveries are arriving in the region. A massive famine is looming and there are allegations that the famine was deliberately brought about. The Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Abune Mathias , who himself comes from Tigray, warned of genocide in Tigray in May 2021.

In June 2021, the United Nations (UN) warned that around 2,350,000 people in Tigray are suffering from famine , of which around 350,000 are in mortal danger due to malnutrition . The Ethiopian government under Abiy Ahmed called this disinformation and denied the UN access to the people. Abiy declared that there was no hunger and warned that foreign aid would help the fighters from Tigray like in the 1980 famine, which should not be repeated.

Counteroffensive of the TPLF 2021

On June 28, 2021, the TPLF fighters under the command of ex-General Tsadkan Gebretensae succeeded in taking the regional capital Mek'ele after a rapid offensive . The representatives of the Ethiopian central government fled the city. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed then proclaimed a "humanitarian" ceasefire. The Tigray rebels announced their intention to continue their offensive as far as Eritrea and the Ethiopian central country Amhara in order to "destroy the enemy". The following day, they also took the regional town of Shire after it was evacuated by Eritrean troops.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ethiopia's Tigray crisis: How a soldier survived an 11-hour gun battle. In: bbc.com. December 10, 2020, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  2. ^ The midnight confrontation that helped unleash Ethiopia's conflict. In: france24.com. November 27, 2020, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  3. ↑ Exclusive: US thinks Eritrea has joined Ethiopian war, diplomats say. In: reuters.com. December 8, 2020, accessed May 30, 2021 .
  4. ^ War in Tigray: The humanitarian situation is coming to a head. In: dw.com. January 13, 2021, accessed May 30, 2021 .
  5. ↑ a b Eritrea's army is fighting in Tigray: Ethiopia admits. In: taz.de. March 24, 2021, accessed May 30, 2021 .
  6. ↑ Ethiopia: Unlawful Shelling of Tigray Urban Areas. In: hrw.org. February 11, 2021, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  7. ↑ Fleeing Ethiopians Tell of Ethnic massacres in Tigray War. In: nytimes.com. December 9, 2020, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  8. ↑ Human Rights Watch accuses troops of Eritrea's massacre. In: spiegel.de. March 5, 2021, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Fritz Schaap: Report from Ethiopia: In the realm of fear. In: Spiegel Online. December 11, 2020, accessed January 2, 2021 .
  10. ^ Analysis: Tigray election: beyond defying the central government. Addisstandard, September 11, 2020, accessed November 8, 2020 .
  11. ^ Yohannes Gebre Egziabher: Ethiopia's Tigray region votes, defying Abiy's federal government. Deutsche Welle, September 10, 2020, accessed on November 8, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Ethiopian parliament votes to cut ties with Tigray region leaders. In: aljazeera.com. October 7, 2020, accessed June 11, 2021 .
  13. ↑ Desta Gebremedhin: Why there are fears that Ethiopia could break up.BBC News, September 4, 2020, accessed on November 5, 2020 .
  14. ↑ Desta Gebremedhin: Tigray crisis: After several regional army bases were attacked and heavy weapons were seized, the conflict escalted and Ethiopia sent troops to rescue the attacked bases, regain the heavy arms and hold the responsible TPLF leaders accountable. BBC News, November 4, 2020, accessed November 5, 2020 .
  15. ^ Ethiopia parliament dissolves Tigray leadership. BBC News, November 7, 2020, accessed November 8, 2020 .
  16. ↑ tagesschau.de: Ethiopia speaks of 500 deaths in the military offensive in Tigray. Retrieved November 12, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Ethiopia: Investigation confirms scores of civilians killed in Tigray state, mostly ethnic Amharas massacred by a Tigrayan youth organization in collaboration with local militia and police. Amnesty International UK, November 12, 2020, accessed November 14, 2020 .
  18. ↑ Ethiopia's Tigray leader confirms firing missiles at Eritrea apnews.com, November 15, 2020
  19. ↑ Ethiopia Tigray crisis: Rockets hit outskirts of Eritrea capital. BBC News, November 15, 2020, accessed November 15, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Possible Eritrea Troop Sightings Signal Against Ethiopia Fight. Bloomberg News, December 8, 2020, accessed December 14, 2020 .
  21. ↑ tagesschau.de: Attack on Mekele: Ethiopia conquers Tigray's capital. Retrieved November 28, 2020 .
  22. ↑ The hunger crisis comes to a head after the military conflict in Ethiopia. Retrieved February 16, 2021 .
  23. ↑ Fritz Schaap: Eritrea's dictator Afwerki: The most dangerous man in the Horn of Africa. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 26, 2021 .
  24. ↑ After two months of war, Tigray faces starvation - Ethiopia's government appears to be blocking food deliveries to the region. In: economist.com. January 23, 2021, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  25. ↑ US condemns 'atrocities' in Tigray and calls for those responsible to be 'held to account' after CNN investigation. In: cnn.com. May 16, 2021, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  26. ^ Tigray Is Being Deliberately Starved to Death. In: worldpoliticsreview.com. April 6, 2021, accessed May 18, 2021 .
  27. ↑ Fear, hunger and death: Patriarch warns of “genocide” in Tigray. In: tagesspiegel.de. May 16, 2021, accessed May 16, 2021 .
  28. ↑ UN agencies scale-up response to address looming famine 'catastrophe' in Tigray. June 10, 2021, accessed June 11, 2021 .
  29. ↑ Unicef: 350,000 people in northern Ethiopia are threatened with starvation. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved June 11, 2021 .
  30. ↑ Up to 900,000 in Ethiopia's Tigray face famine, US says. In: washingtonpost.com. June 26, 2021, accessed June 27, 2021 .
  31. ^ Ethiopia Tigray conflict: Rebels build on capture of capital. BBC News, June 29, 2021, accessed June 30, 2021 .
  32. ↑ Gen Tsadkan Gebretensae: Ethiopia's Tigray rebel mastermind. BBC News, July 1, 2021, accessed July 1, 2021 .