After the announcement of the start of the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the Tigray region, the fighting continued. Doubt hangs over the veracity of Ethiopia's announcement of the Eritrean withdrawal.
The Ethiopian army is currently waging in Tigray "an important battle on eight fronts in the north and west of the country," said Sunday Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed during an official speech. In Tigray, "the junta that we eliminated in three weeks has now become a guerrilla force," added the Ethiopian Prime Minister. “Their fighters mingled with the peasants and moved outside our circle of influence. From now on, we are not able to eliminate them within three months ”, admitted Abiy Ahmed, very annoyed by the situation.
Abiy Ahmed begins to lose face
The Ethiopian government faces increasing pressure to end the war in Tigray, which began in November when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed troops there following a Tigray attack on military installations and where the situation humanitarianism is increasingly serious. Leaders in the region do not recognize Ethiopian authority, after national elections were postponed last year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Friday, the G7 issued a strong statement calling for the swift withdrawal of Ethiopian soldiers from Tigray. The Ethiopian prime minister was slow to admit the presence of the neighboring army. Last Saturday he finally promised that the Eritreans had agreed to withdraw. The G7 statement further called for the establishment of a clear and inclusive political process that is acceptable to all Ethiopians, including those in Tigray, and that leads to credible elections and a comprehensive process of national reconciliation.
After confirming an Eritrean presence in Tigray, Abiy Ahmed then announced that Ethiopian forces had taken over the guard of the national border. Pressure on Ethiopia's prime minister increased after reports of massacres and depraved acts by Eritrean soldiers were reported.
Relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea were marked by great hostility for years after a war that broke out in 1998. Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his solution through compromise with the 'Eritrea. However, hostility between Eritrea and the FLPT in the Tigray border region persisted.
Are the Eritreans really gone?
According to the report by the NGO International Crisis Group (ICG), called "The war in Tigray: a deadly and dangerous dead end", the fighting in central and southern Tigray has resumed and is unlikely to end so quickly that.
It is not known how many Eritrean soldiers withdrew and some sources in Tigray say the Eritreans actually did not leave at all. Some leaders in the region have said that Eritrean soldiers sometimes wear the uniform of the Ethiopian armed forces.
More and more reports of atrocities such as massacres and rapes, and concerns are growing about the lack of food and medical care in Tigray, a region of 6 million people.
The isolation of the center of the region, in addition to the Eritrean presence, creates a humanitarian situation that has become unmanageable. "We continue to receive information on attacks against civilians and infrastructure, including looting and vandalism of health centers, schools, as well as various cases of sexual violence, which is unacceptable," says Stéphane. Dujarric, UN spokesperson.
The latest confirmations of indiscriminate massacres and summary executions have been provided by a BBC investigation: Ethiopian soldiers are singled out, but also Abiy Ahmed accused of knowingly lying about the upcoming withdrawal of Eritrean soldiers.
In any case, on Tigray, Ethiopia and Eritrea seem to have coincident interests. As proof, Abiy Ahmed's trip to Asmara last week to meet with President Isaias Afwerki. In the opinion of specialists, if a decision had, at that time, been taken on an imminent withdrawal of Eritrean troops, the announcement of this withdrawal would have been made by Afwerki, and not by the Ethiopian Prime Minister.