Ethiopia has pursued legitimate military action in its Tigray province since early November, according Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission. Maybe.
It does seem that the northern state’s regional forces – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – attacked federal military bases on November 4 and may even have executed some surrendering soldiers. Still, one suspects something a bit more complicated afoot inside America’s strategic linchpin partner on Africa’s Horn. In fact, that Ethiopia – particularly its Western-favorite of a prime minister, Abiy Ahmed – is a U.S. partner at all, is reason enough to smell a rat in the AU chairman’s a bit too confident,
Europe can stop Ethiopia’s slide into a regional war
Theodore Murphy
Abiy Ahmed launched a military campaign in Tigray on November 4.
The war with Tigray marks the explosion of simmering tensions between Ethiopia’s former dominant party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. In 2019 the prime minister replaced the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front with the Prosperity Party, prompting the TPLF to withdraw from the coalition rather than dissolve to join the new government. The slide into conflict began in August that year, when Abiy Ahmed delayed a national election scheduled for May 2020, citing concerns about Covid-19. In response, the TPLF questioned Abiy Ahmed’s legitimacy and proceeded with a regional election in Tigray in September. The prime minister froze federal funds to Tigray the following month, and the TPLF attacked the Ethiopian army’s Northern Command soon after.
Europe can stop Ethiopia’s slide into a regional war Theodore Murphy
The war with Tigray marks the explosion of simmering tensions between Ethiopia s former dominant party, the Tigray People s Liberation Front (TPLF), and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. In 2019 the prime minister replaced the ruling Ethiopian People s Revolutionary Democratic Front with the Prosperity Party, prompting the TPLF to withdraw from the coalition rather than dissolve to join the new government. The slide into conflict began in August that year, when Abiy Ahmed delayed a national election scheduled for May 2020, citing concerns about Covid-19. In response, the TPLF questioned Abiy Ahmed s legitimacy and proceeded with a regional election in Tigray in September. The prime minister froze federal funds to Tigray the following month, and the TPLF attacked the Ethiopian army s Northern Command soon after.
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Tigrinya refugees in Sudan in early December 2020.
In Ethiopiaâs ongoing Tigray conflict, Eritrean refugees are especially at risk. The international community must pay attention.
In early November, violent conflict erupted between Ethiopia’s central government and the regional government of Tigray. By mid-December, some 50,000 people had fled to Sudan. Their reports tell us about civilians suffering a humanitarian disaster in Tigray. The scenario is largely non-transparent. According to estimates, about 1 million people have been displaced domestically.
The setting remains explosive, and the historical background is complicated. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which runs the regional government, was one of the strongest forces in the Civil War that ended in 1991 with the downfall of Mengistu Haile Mariam, a military dictator. At that point, Eritrea became an independent country and has since been ruled with an iron fist by President Isayas Afewerki. In Ethi