Mereja.Forum

When one thought Mary Harper at the toxic British Bullshît Corporation would be a bit more objective & professional, she shows up with this garbage.

Ethiopia's Tigray conflict: Civilian bloodbath warning as offensive escalates

Published: 1 day ago

Ethiopian civil war


The civil war that began in November 2020 has devastated the Tigray region and left people cut off from aid and food supplies. AFP

By Mary Harper

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-6 ... BBC+Africa

Diplomats are warning of a civilian bloodbath in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray if rebels are pushed out of towns by Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.

Tigray residents say food and medical supplies are running out as a massive offensive on the region intensifies.

Cities are being carpet bombed, says Tedros Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization chief, who is from Tigray.

Civilians are being killed and those wounded cannot be saved because of a siege, he says.

Tigray has been under a blockade for 17 months and fighting has surged since a five-month humanitarian truce collapsed in August. An estimated one million people are at risk of starvation.

The African Union (AU) has joined the chorus of international voices calling for an end to hostilities and a recommitment to peace talks.

On Friday, an aid worker from the International Rescue Committee was killed while delivering emergency food to women and children in the town of Shire, which has come under ferocious bombardment.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell expressed horror at the violence in Shire, often directed at civilians.

Camps for the millions of people displaced by the fighting are also coming under attack, according to Samantha Power, the head of the US's development agency.

If Ethiopian and Eritrean troops took control of them during the current offensive there was

significant risk of further assaults and killings being perpetrated against civilians,

the US Aid chief said.

The staggering human cost of this conflict should shock the world's conscience,

she added.

A resident of Tigray's main city of Mekelle told the BBC there was almost no food in the city.

He said small amounts of the staple grain, teff, were being sold - at more than three times last year's price.

Drones are flying overhead constantly, terrifying the population.

He said growing numbers of women were offering to join the rebel forces in the face of the relentless onslaught of Ethiopian and Eritrean troops.

It reflects a growing desperation amongst the Tigrayans who fear they will be crushed in the coming weeks.

So deep is the hatred between the two sides it seems almost inevitable that those who lose will be punished ruthlessly.

Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor in conflict studies at the Oslo New University College in Norway, says World War One tactics are being used by Ethiopia's and Eritrea's infantry forces who are pushing "massive human waves" on Tigrayan defensive lines.

The analyst tweeted that in his opinion the world's biggest ongoing armed conflict was currently not Russia's attack on Ukraine, but the Ethiopian and Eritrean operation against Tigray.

He suggested that up to one million soldiers were engaged in the offensive.

The carnage is horrendous. Likely as many as 100,000 have been slaughtered over the last weeks,

he tweeted.

Ethiopia and Eritrea blame Tigray's TPLF group for starting the conflict in November 2020.

EMNA ጸሓይ ወያነ ትዓርብ ኣላ Eritrean Media net Asmera

የጥምር ጦሩ ዛሬ በአላማጣና ኮረም ከተሞች የተሰገሰገውን የጁንታ ጦር ጠራርጎ በማስወጣት ወደ ማይጨው እየገሰገሰ ነው ተባለ:: (Courtesy: EMS)

Meanwhile, PM Abyi seems to already have gone past the junta problem:






በአማራ ክልል በማዕከላዊ ጎንደር ዞን በ38,000 ሄክታር እና በጠገዴ ወረዳዋ አዲስ ዓለም 1,200 ሄክታር በኩታ ገጠም የተመረተውን አኩሪ አተር ጎብኝተናል። ያስገኙት ምርት በእጅጉ አበረታች ነው።




በስንዴ አምራችነት ያገኘነው አስደሳች ውጤት በሌሎች ምርቶችም እንደሚቀጥል ያመላክታል። ሀገራችን የምግብ ዋስትናዋን አረጋግጣ በዓለም ገበያ በምርቶቿ መሳተፏ የሩቅ ጊዜ ህልም ሳይሆን፣ እየቀረበ የሚገኝ የጥረት ውጤት ነው።
Abiy Ahmed Ali: @AbiyAhmedAli

The Ethiopian gov't says it aims to take control of all airports, federal facilities and other critical installations in the Tigray region in response to what it describes as "hostile foreign actors" supporting the junta and to expedite humanitarian aid to the needy.






________



ኣብዘን ዝስዕባ መዓልታት ምስ ኤርትራ ዝዳወባ ኩለን ከተማታት ትግራይ ኣብ ትሕቲ ፌደራል ክኣትዋ ትጽቢት ይግበር። @tesfanews

(In a few days, it's expected that all towns bordering Eritrea will fall under the direct control of the Federal gov't. of Ethiopia)

Case in point:








UN chief warns Ethiopia 'spiralling out of control'

Aymeric VINCENOT

https://news.yahoo.com/ethiopia-vows-se ... 22269.html

Mon, October 17, 2022



UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the situation in Ethiopia was "spiralling out of control" as fighting raged in the north of the country and the government vowed to seize control of airports and other sites in Tigray.

International alarm has been mounting over the upsurge in fighting in Tigray, where Ethiopian forces along with troops from neighbouring Eritrea have stepped up an offensive near the city of Shire.

The situation in Ethiopia is spiralling out of control. Violence and destruction have reached alarming levels,

Guterres told reporters at the United Nations.

Hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia must end now,

he said, also calling for the

immediate withdrawal and disengagement

of Eritrean forces.

The African Union had called on Sunday for an immediate and unconditional truce as combat intensified between pro-government forces and rebels from the Tigray region who have been at war for nearly two years.

AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat also urged the rivals to "recommit to dialogue" after both sides accepted an invitation to peace talks that failed to materialise as violence spiralled.

The conflict has killed an unknown number of civilians and unleashed a massive humanitarian crisis in Tigray and other parts of the north, with at least two million people driven from their homes and millions more in need of aid.

- 'Defensive measures' -

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government said in a statement Monday it was

committed to the peaceful resolution of the conflict through the AU-led peace talks,

without addressing the ceasefire call.

But it said it would also pursue "defensive measures" to protect Ethiopia's sovereignty and territorial integrity from internal and external threats.

These measures are necessitated not only by the repeated attacks of the TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front) but also by its active collusion with these hostile foreign powers,

it said, without identifying them.

It is thus imperative that the Government of Ethiopia assumes immediate control of all airports, other federal facilities, and installations in the region,

the statement from the Government Communication Service (GCS) said.

The authorities in Tigray said Sunday they were

ready to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities

and called on the international community to press the government to come to the table.

Reacting to the GCS statement, TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP in a message:

It's a clear indication that the government and its ally will do everything to carry through their genocidal intent against the people of Tigray.

Tigray and its six million people are largely cut off from the outside world, facing dire shortages of fuel, food and medicines and lacking basic services such as communications, electricity and banking.

Abiy's government and the Tigrayan authorities were to attend AU-led negotiations in South Africa earlier this month but they did not go ahead, with logistical problems cited as one obstacle.

- 'Deep regret' -

Meanwhile, civilian casualties have been reported in heavy shelling as Ethiopian and Eritrean troops wage an offensive near Shire, a city of 100,000 people in northwestern Tigray.

US aid chief Samantha Power on Sunday warned

the risk of additional atrocities and loss of life is intensifying

around Shire, and accused Ethiopian and Eritrean forces of indiscriminate attacks.

On Friday, an aid worker from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) was among three civilians killed in an attack in Shire that also injured others.

The IRC staffer was distributing food to vulnerable civilians including women and children, said the World Food Programme (WFP).

Britain's minister for Africa, Gillian Keegan, said she was "appalled" by the attack.

This is the 24th aid worker killed in Tigray since the start of the conflict. Civilians and aid workers must be protected and #NotATarget,

Keegan wrote on Twitter.

Addis Ababa said its army strove to

avoid combat operations within urban areas to prevent civilian casualties

but urged aid workers to

distance themselves from TPLF military assets.

The Government of Ethiopia deeply regrets any harm that might have been inflicted on civilians, including humanitarian personnel,

the GCS said, adding it would investigate such incidents.

Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his rapprochement with Eritrea, sent troops into Tigray in November 2020 after accusing the TPLF of attacking federal army camps.

The TPLF had dominated Ethiopia's ruling political alliance for decades before Abiy took power in 2018 and sidelined the party..

Sudanese Intelligence Chief Says His Country Won’t Cooperate in Any Activities to Harm Ethiopia

https://www.ena.et/en/?p=39250



Addis Ababa October 17/2022 /ENA Sudanese General Intelligence Service Head assured, that the government of Sudan will not cooperate in any activities that harm the people and government of Ethiopia.

Sudanese General Intelligence Service Head, Major General Muhammad Ali Ahmed discussed security affairs with his Ethiopian counterpart at the headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF.)

The ENDF said on its Facebook page, that the Sudanese Intelligence Service head

assured that the government of Sudan will not cooperate in any activities that harm the people and government of Ethiopia.

On his part, the Ethiopian National Defense Force Intelligence Department Chief Representative said that as the people of the two countries share culture and history beyond the border, the terrorist group of the TPLF has been working to create problems between the two countries for a long time.

However, the chief representative pledged that Ethiopia is ready to solve the existing problems together with Sudan.

Both of the intelligence officials conducted an in-depth discussion on security issues of the two countries, according to sources.

Furthermore, they discussed and reached an agreement about the issues that should be worked on between the intelligence institutions of the countries in a better way than usual, it was noted.

Sudanese General Intelligence Service Head appreciated Ethiopia and the Ministry of Defense in particular, for their welcome, the head expressed his country’s readiness to resolve frequent conflicts between the borders of the two countries.




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Ethiopia donates humanitarian aid to Pakistan, which has recently suffered greatly from flooding. The humanitarian aid includes medical supplies, clothing, drinking water, and emergency food.
Asnake Anteneh: @anteneh_asnake