Nearly ten months after the start of the Tigray War, fighting continues between Tigray’s rebel forces and the Ethiopian Federal Government. After regaining control of Tigray, the rebels are now leading an offensive in two neighboring regions, in Afar and in the Amhara region. The fighting has put about 150,000 people on the road since mid-July. Many took refuge in Dessie. RFI met them in the Addis Fana camp.
From his hometown of Kobo to Dessie, Zerfe Molla and his son traveled more than 150 kilometers to escape the advancing Tigrayan rebels.
“I came to take refuge because of the war. We set off on foot every day at dawn and cut ourselves across the field. We had to because there was no car. ”
Like Zerfe, 19-year-old Yohannes preferred to leave Kobo where his family still lives. He feared reprisals from the TPLF party in Tigray. “When TPLF entered the city, they did not attack the population. I left when I saw our army withdraw. I was scared. But in the end, the rebels did not kill us. ”
“Everyone is ready to face this terrorist group” Without a telephone network, it is impossible for Yohannes, Zerfe and the others to know the situation in the northern Amhara region at present. For Dessie’s deputy mayor, Said Youssouf, it’s time to mobilize to resume Kobo and its environs: “Everyone is ready to face this terrorist group. In Dessie, we welcomed all these displaced people. But now we are also ready to attack the rebels. ”
Militants were also present in the Addis Fana camp to try to recruit displaced people.
