It is a new attempt at mediation in Ethiopia to end the conflict between the government and the dissident Tigray region. The latest attempt comes from Cyril Ramaphosa and the African Union.
It has now been eighteen days since the clashes took place and caused the flight of more than 30,000 refugees in neighboring Sudan. The UN said on Friday, November 20, that it expects 200,000 in total. To end the fighting, many countries and international organizations have called for a ceasefire for two weeks. Calls are systematically denied by Addis Ababa. The latest attempt comes from Cyril Ramaphosa and the African Union, but it may well be the same fate.
It was after Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde in Pretoria that Cyril Ramaphosa proposed the initiative. The South African president, also the current president of the African Union, decided to send three envoys to Addis Ababa to represent the continental organization, in this case three former presidents, namely Mozambican Joaquim Chissano, the former leader of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and former South African interim president Kgalema Motlanthe.
According to Ramaphosa, their mission is to meet the Ethiopian government and the TPLF party with two goals: to end the fighting and create the conditions for an inclusive national dialogue.
Except that this initiative is not unanimous in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian government says yes, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will receive the three envoys, but they will not start negotiations with the TPLF, described as criminal.
The reaction of the Tigrayan party could not be concentrated due to the telecommunications cuts still in force in the province.
A war on the ground and a communication war
This ongoing conflict in Tigray between the Federal Army and TPLF troops is a war that is playing out on the ground with particularly humanitarian consequences that worry the UN. It is also a communication war, while Tigray is in a situation of almost total blackout.
No independent witnesses, telecommunications are still cut … It is therefore difficult to verify the reality on the ground. There are press releases that are spread on both sides that often conflict with each other. This Saturday morning, in a statement, the Ethiopian Prime Minister welcomed the rise of his army, claiming that he had “completely liberated the city of Adigrat” and was therefore only a hundred kilometers from Mekele, the capital. from Tigray.
The TPLF, for its part, claims to have driven the federal army out of the southern city of Alamata and caused Ethiopian soldiers heavy losses on Friday, Special Adviser Getachew Reda assured in a statement to the media. tigrayans.
“The enemy is taking heavy losses. We will continue to take appropriate action against all facilities, whether in Ethiopia or elsewhere – used to attack Tigray. And to focus on the areas that serve as a base for carrying out attacks on Tigray ”.
According to several sources, new rockets fired from Tigray hit not far from the city of Bahir Dar, in the neighboring region of Amhara and this, according to its regional government, without causing any damage or damage.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “open humanitarian corridors” to help the people trapped in the fighting in the Ethiopian region of Tigray.
“The conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia puts 2.3 million children in emergency aid and thousands more, refugees in camps in Sudan, in a precarious situation,” he said on Friday. , Unicef.
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