In a statement on Wednesday, the rights watchdog said the “unprovoked attack” took place in the centre of Adwa town early on Monday, more than two weeks after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Eritrea had agreed to withdraw the forces it had sent into the northern Ethiopian region during the conflict that broke out there in November 2020.
Tag: Eritrean Involvement
UN Security Council to Meet on Tigray Crisis
The 15 Security Council members will hear from UN humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock, who will talk about the continued difficulties in getting aid to refugees, according to the UN.
In early March Lowcock called for Eritrea to withdraw its troops from Tigray, in the first recognition by a UN official of Eritrea’s involvement in the fighting there.
Amnesty: Ethiopia: Three killed, 19 injured in Tigray as Eritrean troops open fire on civilians
Amnesty International can confirm that Eritrean troops killed three people and injured at least 19 in an unprovoked attack on civilians in the centre of Adwa town on 12 April.
“There must be justice and accountability for war crimes and human rights violations in Tigray. This attack and other allegations of violations must be independently and impartially investigated by an international inquiry “
the irish times: War in Tigray threatens to end Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed’s dream of unity
“They put a gun in my mouth,” he adds, before stabbing him and leaving him for dead in the street.
Abiy himself conceded recently that the war had dragged on much longer than he expected. TPLF fighters, he said, had dispersed “like flour in the winds”. He added that the federal army was fighting a guerrilla war on at least eight separate fronts across the country.
The Other End of the Line
I received a phone call from my uncle sobbing uncontrollably, everything stopped. I was told my cousin had been raped by Eritrean forces and her husband was forced to watch.
Eritrean forces entered their home in Wukro, central Tigray, took hold of my cousin while another soldier tied her husband and forced him to watch as they took turns raping her. I felt sick. I couldn’t come to grips with what I was hearing. This wasn’t the headline of an article, this was my family.
“I received a phone call from my uncle sobbing uncontrollably, everything stopped. I was told my cousin had been raped by Eritrean forces and her husband was forced to watch.” #TigrayGenocide #WeaponizedRape
So many thoughts ran through my mind upon hearing this. My heart broke for my cousin and her husband. Their marriage was violated – something so sacred to their marriage was stripped away. She will carry the mental, emotional, and physical pains of this experience forever. She could be at risk of carrying an infection or pregnancy, which may then lead her to battle her beliefs should she decide not to continue the pregnancy. Her husband will have to live with the immense guilt and trauma of seeing what happened to his wife for the rest of his life.
I’ve since learned that she was able to get to a hospital to get treatment, although I have no idea how she is doing or what treatment she received.
I received the news four days after hearing a cousin of mine in Adwa, northern Tigray, had been killed by Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). I remember watching a video of Eritrean soldiers captured by Tigray Defense Forces weeks beforehand – my assumption was that the ENDF took hold of the town and killed civilians in retribution. Hearing about the loss of my cousin’s life in the most gruesome and unnatural manner drove me to the depths of despair.
I am heartbroken – hearing deeply distressing stories about your family takes an immense toll on you. Thoughts of my cousins in Wukro occupy every waking second. My existence has become engulfed by images of their faces, imagining what they’re going through.
There are moments during the day where I find myself unable to navigate life and my seemingly ‘normal’ obligations. My profession involves tending to patients. The irony of life isn’t lost on me, knowing that I am unable to extend acts of compassion and care to my loved ones is a predicament I battle with on a daily basis.
“My profession involves tending to patients. The irony of life isn’t lost on me, knowing that I am unable to extend acts of compassion and care to my loved ones is a predicament I battle with on a daily basis.” #TigrayGenocide #WeaponizedRape
The sight of a plate of food leaves me overwhelmed with guilt. This idea of rest feels foreign and fundamentally undeserving. I long for the day I am able to pour my love into my home and my family.
“The sight of a plate of food leaves me overwhelmed with guilt. This idea of rest feels foreign and fundamentally undeserving. I long for the day I am able to pour my love into my home and my family.” #TigrayGenocide #WeaponizedRape
Omna Tigray Contributor 03/22/2021
Europe External Program with Africa: Situation Report # 81
- Unconfirmed report received that a payment of 500mln US dollars was made by Ethiopia to President Esayas of Eritrea and that Eritrea was provided with weapons for its participation in the war in Tigray.
- Unconfirmed report that when the National Security director of Eritrea visited Addis, he requested that the Ethiopian government would make the second additional payment of 500 mln USD so that Eritrean
troops could do the ‘final offensive’ in Tigray. - The understanding is that reportedly PM Abiy promised 1 billion USD to President Esayas from Eritrea, to be paid in two parts.
- In exchange, President Esayas from Eritrea offered his Indefinite National Service recruits to serve in the war in Tigray.
- National service troops of Eritrea have also been serving as mercenaries in the war in Yemen, despite the UN sanctions that were in place to curb Eritrea participation in regional destabilization, until 2018.
- It is reported that the clashes between Ethiopia and Eritrea troops in Tigray a few weeks ago were caused by differences in the division of weapons between the two parties in the alliance. Reportedly
many soldiers were killed on both sides. - Ethiopia has closed two camps which previously sheltered internationally recognized Eritrean refugees in Tigray, Shemelba and Hitsats. Satellite footage shows the camps were completely destroyed. 20.000 refugees from the camps have disappeared and 10.000 are alleged to have been abducted to Eritrea.
- One year ago, President Esayas from Eritrea pressurised Ethiopia to close the four camps in Tigray. Many of the Eritrean refugees sheltered in the camps have fled the indefinite national service in
Eritrea. It is a cruel practice which, according to the UN, constitutes a Crime against Humanity.
Addis Standard: MEKELLE CITY INTERIM MAYOR ADMITS PRESENCE AND PARTICIPATION OF ERITREAN FORCES IN TIGRAY CONFLICT
In a video televised by Tigray TV, which is currently under the control of the federal government appointed interim administration in Tigray, Ataklit responds to questions from community members participating in a meeting. According to Ataklit, the question of the presence of Eritrean forces in Tigray was “a daily question of the interim administration,” and that “relevant military leaders have been asked to give explanations.”
DW: Once enemies, Ethiopia and Eritrea ally against Tigray
- Eritrea has been involved in the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia from day one, experts have said. But even though the two countries are fighting together against a common enemy, that does not make them friends.
- “The Eritrean regime has seen the TPLF as enemy for a long time, which is very ironic,” journalist and Eritrea expert Michela Wrong told DW.
- “Isaias had rejected all peace negotiations,” said Tronvoll. “But when Abiy started to dismiss Tigrayan high officials in early June 2018, Isaias was happy to engage because it was game over for TPLF.”
New York Times: Refugees Come Under Fire as Old Foes Fight in Concert in Ethiopia
Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
The deployment of Eritreans to Tigray is the newest element in a melee that has greatly tarnished Mr. Abiy’s once-glowing reputation. Only last year he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for making peace with Mr. Isaias. Now it looks like the much-lauded peace deal between the former enemies in fact laid the groundwork for them to make war against Tigray, their mutual adversary.
“Abiy has invited a foreign country to fight against his own people,” said Awol Allo, a former Abiy supporter turned outspoken critic who lectures in law at Keele University in Britain. “The implications are huge.”
Read the full story…Eritrea’s role in Tigray conflict
Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
BBC News: Eritrea’s role in Ethiopian conflict
- A US state department spokesperson also said there were “credible reports” of the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray, and called it a “grave development”.
- Isaias is sending young Eritreans to die in Tigray
- Significant acknowledgement by Abiy on Eritrean forces involvement
- Eritrean forces accused of looting
The New York Times: Refugees Come Under Fire as Old Foes Fight in Concert in Ethiopia
Forces from neighboring Eritrea have joined the war in northern Ethiopia, and have rampaged through refugee camps committing human rights violations, officials and witnesses say.
‘I would never go back’: Accounts of atrocities grow in Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict
The 54-year-old carpenter came bearing news of some 250 young men abducted to an unknown fate from a single village, Adi Aser, into neighboring Eritrea by Eritrean forces, whose involvement Ethiopia denies. Then in late November, Guesh said he saw dogs feeding on the bodies of civilians near his hometown of Rawyan, where he said Ethiopian soldiers beat him and took him to the border town of Humera.
In fact, according to interviews with two dozen aid workers, refugees, United Nations officials and diplomats — including a senior American official — Eritrean soldiers are fighting in Tigray, apparently in coordination with Mr. Abiy’s forces, and face credible accusations of atrocities against civilians. Among their targets were refugees who had fled Eritrea and its harsh leader, President Isaias Afwerki.
Read the full story…