After the TPLF split into two factions, the people of Tigray also became divided, with some supporting one faction over the other.
The faction led by Getachew Reda and Lt. Gen. Tsadqan (TPLF-G), was widely criticized by the majority for its overt alignment with the ruling Prosperity Party of PM Abiy Ahmed.
This faction, which believes it still has unfinished business with Eritrea, is eager to see Tigray either fully governed by the federal government or led by someone who will be loyal to the federal government. They are also pushing for the return of federal defense forces to Tigray.
In order to make their case more appealing to both the federal government and the general Ethiopian public, this faction has resorted to creating accusations involving Eritrea.
1) The first allegation focused on the village of Irob, claiming that Eritrean troops were mistreating the local population. This narrative gained some traction for a few weeks, but eventually lost momentum as curious observers discovered that Irob is actually part of Eritrean territory.
2) Next, Getachew accused the TPLF faction led by Debretsion (TPLF-D) of having secret contacts with the Eritrean government. However, this accusation backfired when it was revealed that Getachew himself had actually initiated contact with an Eritrean government representative at the Eritrean embassy in Dubai, with the knowledge and approval of both TPLF-D and PM Abiy Ahmed.
3) Undeterred, the TPLF-G faction fabricated another story, claiming that Eritrean troops were occupying 56 villages inside Tigray. However, this allegation failed to generate the anticipated reaction from the federal government, as they failed to identify these specific villages by name and so couldn't be fact-checked with GPS data. As a result, they resorted to yet another narrative:
4) that “Eritrea is the main route for the illegal gold mining” out of Tigray and argued that the federal government should deploy troops to the border to stop this alleged smuggling. New reports show, it is smuggled to Dubai through several nearby countries. Therefore, the accusations against Eritrea seem to be weakening.
Given that many more allegations continue to surface, one might wonder why the TPLF-G faction led by Getachew Reda and Lt. Gen. Tsadqan is so determined to provoke a conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia again, of course, at the expense of the Tigray people. Is there something more behind this? A hidden agenda they are trying to conceal, with the only way to do so being to keep the region in a constant state of war readiness? What are they up to?
