They stress if the current situation continues, it will soon take a toll on civilians, especially the more vulnerable ones. The UN and its partner organisations have expressed growing concern to Addis Ababa about the safety and welfare of civilians amid growing reports of shortages of fuel, cash (due to the closure of banks), and limited low access to basic services, including food and water. More than half a million people live the city. Over the weekend, the federal government announced that Mekelle – the Tigrayan capital – was encircled. I am now not sure if he is dead or alive,” says Alemitu Alemu Gobena, a 68 year-old woman speaking to The Africa Report. He wore the uniform with pride that Ethiopia was finally fulfilling its promise and he was about to retire once again when he was called on for assignment to Tigray a week before the conflict began.
“My son re-joined the army wanting to contribute to the well-being of the nation. READ MORE Tigray: The AU failed Ethiopia, while US calls the shots More families are being kept in the dark and unsure of what has happened to their family members back in Tigray since a media blackout is remains in effect. I am crying every day, fearing he may be killed during the war,” says Mulu Gebreegziaber, a mother of three living in Addis. “My son is a student in Mekelle University and I have not heard anything from him since the war began. “We respectfully urge the international community to refrain from any unwelcome and unlawful acts of interference and respect the fundamental principles of non-intervention under international law,” said the the Prime Minister’s office. READ MORE Where next for Abiy’s Ethiopia after Tigray operation ‘completed’?Ĭiting the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of sovereign states, his administration has rejected any external help. He refers to the growing international call for peaceful engagement as no different than interference in the affairs of a sovereign country, adding he has already exhausted all mediation mechanisms in the past. Therefore, he has refused to engage with them, calling such attempts unfavourable. While Prime Minister Abiy accuses the TPLF of destabilising the country by arming different rebel groups across the nation and sponsoring conflicts, he continues to defend his administration’s measures, saying peace and negotiation cannot be considered as an option with the TPLF, which he calls a terrorist group. Under the direction of Nobel peace laureate Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s federal government began what it called a law enforcement operation a gainst the forces of Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF) in November after the latter attacked the military bases of the country’s National Defense forces and killed soldiers. READ MORE Will Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict spillover into Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan? That number is expected to grow to 200,000 according to the UN with the number of deaths hitting the hundreds, along with damage to key infrastructure in the region. With Ethiopia being in conflict for the last four weeks, political uncertainty has reached its peak and it is now spilling into neighbouring countries like Sudan where nearly 50,000 Ethiopians have taken refuge. Now we are in a situation of which we don’t know what will happen to us with all the uncertainty going on,” he says. “I believed peace and stability was becoming possible for Ethiopia where dialogue and peaceful co-existence was to have been a solution.
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