In Ethiopia, the conflict in the north has been going on since November. By the end of three weeks, the federal government had declared victory, but the fighting continued. Former leaders of the TPLF are still at large, and its armed wing, the TFray Defense Forces (TDF), continues to confront the Ethiopian and Eritrean federal forces deployed in Tigray. For the first time, a journalist was able to meet a cell TDF-fighting.
From our special envoy to Tigray,
TDF lives in remote areas of Tigray. To meet them, you must travel kilometers in the countryside, pass villages where the inhabitants act as informants and warn the fighters of the slightest danger.
This TDF cell lives in the middle of populations. The fighters are equipped with AK47s and grenades. Against federal forces, Eritrean soldiers, Amhara militias, weapons and tanks, the TDF has the advantage neither in number nor in material.
The Tigray War is asymmetrical, but the group’s leader, Colonel Mabratu, believes the rebels will win. “We are just defending ourselves. It is not a question of funds. Even if they have tanks, we are ready to fight with bare hands, because we defend our freedom. We start abuse at night. We kill soldiers, we steal their equipment, which we reuse against them. We have our own codes, with leaders and a command. To communicate, we go through our society, because this war is also his, he explains.
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Support from part of the population
A truck unloads food donated by residents. TDF has the support of at least some of the Tigrayans, some of whom, like Halami, have joined the group even though they have never had a weapon.
“My father was diabetic. Due to drug shortage, he died. Everything was prepared. Many examples show that we are in an ethnic cleansing. So some join the fight just to stay alive. Daily life here is tough. I’ve been wearing the same lingerie for five months. But whatever, I’m ready to give my life to save my people, says Halami.
The fighters say that after the first months of defeat, the group is reorganizing and preparing to start the counterattack. In any case, he continues to recruit within the population.
“You have to fight to survive”
Biniam is a 37-year-old official. He’s just taken the bush. “The soldiers are killing someone. So instead of staying home and being slaughtered, you have to fight to survive. We are ready to only eat sand if it frees our people, says Biniam.
Among civilians have some military experience, especially since the Ethiopian warriors. Tega was a nurse. But she put on her uniform to join the uprising. “I am a TPLF veteran. I’m sorry to have left my patients. But when the enemy is there to kill you, you have no choice. I continue to treat so that my brothers-in-arms do not die, Tega explains.
Today, experts believe that the conflict has no military solution and that only dialogue will end the war. Colonel Mabratu even adds that their leader, Debretsion Gebremichaël, would still be alive and still in Tigray.
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