The Tigray War, launched in November between the former regional power and the federal power in Addis Ababa, has now spread to the Afar region, an area east of Tigray. It is difficult to give figures and get independent information, but the clashes have been going on for almost a week and have aroused the fear of a heavy toll.
as reported from Nairobi, Sebastien nemeth
The violence has claimed victims but it is still impossible to know how many. The Ethiopian Disaster Management Agency yesterday reported 20 civilian deaths, mostly residents caught in crossfire. According to various official sources, there are also 50 to 70,000 displaced people.
It would be the rebel movement for Tigray that would have started the hostilities. The group reportedly began its raid in the Afar zone on Saturday and first spoke of “very limited action”.
The fighting would have quickly started against a coalition of local special forces, militiamen and the federal army. The regional authorities quickly urged the population to support them and join the police and special forces. The Afar government has also asked other Ethiopian regions to lend a hand.
The region is strategic as it is crossed by the road and the railway line that connects Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti, which is Ethiopia’s only access to the sea.
In the early days of the battle, Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigrayan rebel forces, declared “not to be interested in territorial gains. But we want to destroy the enemy’s military capabilities, ”he explained. It is therefore possible that the rebel forces are trying to cut this important axis. Anyway, the ceasefire declared at the end of June of Addis Ababa seems far away.
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