ADDIS ABABA: Bombing, looting and skirmishes persisted in parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray on Saturday, a rebellious force in the northern region said after government troops declared they were within days of capturing the group’s leaders.
A month of fighting between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is believed to have killed thousands of people and driven some 46,000 refugees into neighboring Sudan.
Abiy’s government has said the conflict is winding down a week after it seized Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, but TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters in a text message on Saturday there was still fighting outside the city.
He said federal forces bombed the town of Abbi Adi on Friday, without giving further details, while a TPLF spokesman accused government troops of looting in Mekelle.
“(They are) looting civilian properties, hotels and damaging factories after looting,” the spokesman Getachew Reda told a TPLF-owned TV station.
The government did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Most communications in Tigray are down and access to the area is severely restricted, making it hard to verify either side’s statements.
Abiy used to be a political partner of the TPLF — which dominated Ethiopia’s governing coalition for nearly three decades — but he irked his former allies by putting Tigrayan officials on trial for corruption and rights abuses.
They said the arrests were politically motivated, accusing Abiy of trying to tighten his grip over Ethiopia’s 10 semi-autonomous federal states. Abiy denies that, and has called the TPLF leaders criminals who mutinied against federal authority.
Army Col. Shambel Beyene said late on Friday that government forces were 10 km (six miles) away from a forest in the Gore area where Debretsion, Getachew and other TPLF members were thought to be hiding.
“We will only need a few days to get to them,” he said on state television.
Relief agencies, meanwhile, are worried about a lack of food, fuel, medicines and even body bags in Tigray. Convoys are on standby to take aid in.
Residents in the central town of Shire told a new government-appointed provisional administration that the cost of groceries was sky-rocketing and fuel shortages were grounding ambulances used to take patients to hospitals.
“Residents are still staying away from their homes. Women are hiding in caves with their children,” one man said at a meeting aired on EBC late on Friday.
Others complained about looting in the town.
Abiy’s government has said it will protect civilians in the northern region and ensure their needs are met.
“Work to rebuild Tigray has commenced with teams ... undertaking repair work (and) restoring services,” he said in a Tweet on Saturday.
Abiy, who took office in 2018, won a Nobel Peace Prize the following year for making peace with neighboring Eritrea and democratic reforms.
He began opening up a closed economy, loosening a repressive political system, and taking action against those accused of corruption and rights abuses — some of whom were Tigrayan officials.
His government has also jailed thousands of opponents after violent unrest, angering his rivals.
Fighting flares in Ethiopia’s Tigray as army says closing in on rebellious force
https://arab.news/4vjb8
Fighting flares in Ethiopia’s Tigray as army says closing in on rebellious force
- A month of fighting between PM Abiy Ahmed’s federal army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is believed to have killed thousands of people
- Ahmed's His government has also jailed thousands of opponents after violent unrest, angering his rivals
African Union rejects ‘any recognition of Somaliland’ after Israel declaration
- Egypt’s foreign ministry said its top diplomat had spoken with his counterparts from Turkiye, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasized “their full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia”
- Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
NAIROBI: The African Union on Friday said it “rejects any recognition of Somaliland” after Israel declared it viewed the breakaway Somali territory as a sovereign state.
In a statement issued by its head, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the AU called for African borders to be respected and said: “Any attempt to undermine the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Somalia... risks setting a dangerous precedent with far-reaching implications for peace and stability across the continent.”
The chief of the pan-African body, which counts Somalia as a member, said he “firmly rejects any initiative or action aimed at recognizing Somaliland as an independent entity” and stating that Somaliland “remains an integral part of the Federal Republic of Somalia.”
While, Somalia reacted angrily on Friday after Israel formally recognized its northern region of Somaliland as an “independent and sovereign state” — the first country to do so.
Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has for decades pushed for international recognition, which has been the key priority for president Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi since he took office last year.
But a Somali foreign ministry statement warned that the decision was “deliberate attack” on its sovereignty that would undermine peace in the region. Several other countries also condemned Israel’s decision.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he announced “the official recognition of the Republic of Somaliland as an independent and sovereign state,” making Israel the first country to do so.
“The declaration is in the spirit of the Abraham Accords,” Netanyahu’s office said, referring to several agreements between Israel and Arab countries brokered by US President Donald Trump during his first presidency to normalize ties with Israel.
It said Netanyahu had invited Abdullahi to visit.
Hailing Israel’s decision, Abdullahi said in a post on X that it marked the beginning of a “strategic partnership.”
“This is a historic moment as we warmly welcome” he said, affirming “Somaliland’s readiness to join the Abraham Accords,” he added.
In Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland, crowds of people took to the streets to celebrate, many carrying the flag of the breakaway state, said sources.
- ‘Illegitimate actions’ -
Somalia’s foreign ministry said: “Illegitimate actions of this nature seriously undermine regional peace and stability, exacerbate political and security tensions, in the Horn of Africa, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the Middle East and the wider region.”
Turkiye, a close ally of Somalia, also condemned the move.
“This initiative by Israel, which aligns with its expansionist policy... constitutes overt interference in Somalia’s domestic affairs,” it said in a foreign ministry statement.
Egypt’s foreign ministry said its top diplomat had spoken with his counterparts from Turkiye, Somalia and Djibouti, who together condemned the move and emphasized “their full support for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia.”
In video showing Netanyahu speaking to Abdullahi by telephone, the Israeli leader said: “I want you to know that I am signing now as we speak Israel’s official recognition of the Somaliland,” adding that the new relationship would offer economic opportunities.
“I am very, very happy and I am very proud of this day and I want to wish you and the people of Somaliland the very, very best,” he said.
Netanyahu also said that he would communicate to Trump Abdullahi’s “willingness and desire to join the Abraham accords.”
A self-proclaimed republic, Somaliland enjoys a strategic position on the Gulf of Aden, has its own money, passports and army. But since its unilateral declaration of independence in 1991, it has grappled with decades of isolation.
- Strategic -
Analysts say matters of strategy were behind Israel’s drive to recognize Somaliland.
“Israel requires allies in the Red Sea region for many strategic reasons, among them the possibility of a future campaign against the Houthis,” said the Institute for National Security Studies in a paper last month, referring to Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels.
“Somaliland is an ideal candidate for such cooperation as it could offer Israel potential access to an operational area close to the conflict zone,” it said, adding there were also economic motives.
Israel repeatedly hit targets in Yemen after the Gaza war broke out in October 2023, in response to Houthi attacks on Israel that the rebels said were in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis have halted their attacks since a fragile truce began in Gaza in October.
Somaliland’s lack of international recognition has hampered access to foreign loans, aid and investment, and the territory remains deeply impoverished.
A deal between landlocked Ethiopia and Somaliland last year to lease a stretch of coastline for a port and military base enraged Somalia.
Israel has been trying to bolster relations with countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Historic agreements struck late in Trump’s first term in 2020 saw several countries including Muslim-majority United Arab Emirates and Morocco normalize relations with Israel, but wars that have stoked Arab anger, particularly in Gaza, have hampered recent efforts.
