ADIS ABABA — At least 20 civilians have been killed and tens of
thousands displaced in "heavy fighting" between rebels and pro-government
forces in
Ethiopia's Afar region, which neighbors war-hit Tigray, an official
told AFP Thursday.
اضافة اعلان
The sustained clashes in Afar highlight the potential for Ethiopia's
eight-month-old conflict to expand well beyond Tigray, where thousands of
people have already been killed and hundreds of thousands pushed into famine,
according to the
United Nations.
Tigrayan rebels at the weekend carried out what a spokesman described as a
"very limited action" in Afar targeting special forces and militia
fighters from the Oromia region, Ethiopia's largest.
But Mohammed Hussen, an official with Ethiopia's national disaster response
agency based in Afar, told AFP Thursday that the operations were wider in scope
and that civilians had been caught in the crossfire.
"The heavy fighting is still continuing. So totally about 70,000 are
affected directly and they are displaced … More than 20 civilians are
dead."
"They (the rebels) are trying to subjugate the Afars. So now the
federal forces are joining the Afar special forces, the Afar local communities,
the Afar militias. In the last days the Afars were fighting and protecting
themselves."
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops into Tigray last November to oust the
region's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a move he
said came in response to TPLF attacks on federal army camps.
Though the 2019 Nobel Peace laureate declared victory later that month, TPLF
leaders remained on the run and fighting dragged on.
Last month the war took a stunning turn when pro-TPLF fighters reclaimed the
Tigray capital Mekele and Abiy declared a unilateral ceasefire.
Yet clashes have continued especially in western and southern Tigray,
disputed territories that were occupied by forces from Ethiopia's Amhara
region, which borders Tigray to the south, at the beginning of the war.
Officials from six regions and the city of Dire Dawa have since said they
would send troops to back up government forces.
Aid disrupted
The fighting in Afar has already disrupted aid distribution to Tigray.
A 10-vehicle World Food Program (WFP) convoy came under attack in Afar at
the weekend, prompting the UN agency to suspend convoys departing from the
regional capital Semera.
The route via Semera into Tigray had become critical for aid delivery in
recent weeks after two key bridges along other routes were destroyed in late
June.
A UN security notice seen by AFP indicated that on Wednesday heavy fighting
pitting Afar special forces and federal soldiers against the TPLF took place in
Awra and Ewa districts.
Those districts lie east of southern Tigray and northern Amhara, where
thousands of militia fighters have been mobilizing in recent days.
The road into Ethiopia via Djibouti's port, located east of Afar, is vital
for the landlocked country, raising speculation that Tigrayan rebels might try
to choke it off.
Mohammed said Thursday the road was "open" and "very safe,” adding
that any claims to the contrary were TPLF "propaganda.”
Pro-army rally
In the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, tens of thousands of
people gathered in the central Meskel Square for a rally to show support for
the army.
Rally-goers hoisted signs denouncing the TPLF as "Ethiopia's
cancer" and proclaiming that the army "stands for truth and
justice".
Addis Ababa mayor Adanech Abiebe, whose office organized the rally, said the
war "is being wrapped up with victory".
She accused the TPLF of working with foreign media "to defame our
army's name.”
Demonstrators also criticized "interference" by foreign media and
diplomats.
"Ethiopia is a sovereign country, and interfering in Ethiopia's
sovereignty is forbidden," 39-year-old Abeba Nega told AFP.
"The people are out here opposing this."
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