In the city of Dansha, west of Tigray, the Amharase militias are preparing for the next Tigrayan offensive. Reportage.
With our special correspondent in Dansha,Noé Rochet-Bodin
When she is not patrolling the countryside, 33-year-old Fanos Tchekole finds her three children at the café she runs in Dansha. “We were told we would go on duty and we went out, we spent the week in the woods,” she says. We can not find rest, we are still suffering, until now. I left these kids to go, I stayed there for 5 or 6 days without seeing them. ”
The city of Dansha went under the Amhara flag at the beginning of the war in November, as did the whole area called Wolkait Tegede. Since then, it has been filled with militia companies.
“The fight is not over”
“It is not clear. The battle is not over, expelled by one of them, Qagnew Mekonnen, who says he is ready to fight again. Why? Because the TPLF left western Tigray, but they make sure this area is not at peace. They say that Wolkait Tegedé must not be in Amhara, they say it is theirs and will never stop! ”
Tigrayan forces captured the provincial capital Mekele in late June. They then promised to continue the fight and to forcibly take back the territories south and west of the region, territories that came under control from the neighboring Amhara region in November last year. The fighting is already going on in the south.
Sitting in a café, one of Qagnew Mekonen’s superiors, Gete Adel, said he was sure: “Wolqayt Tegedé is not for the Tigrayans, it has never been theirs, and they cannot take it back. They do not have the strength or the skills to conquer it. They can lie, tell what they want, but conquer, that they can not. ”
However, the recent clashes have made it possible for Tiger forces to take back large parts of the territory. The Tigrayan offensive also forced the Amhara region to declare a general mobilization. All men with weapons must join the front.
