More than a month after the outbreak of conflict in Tigray province on November 4, we now know a little more about the role played by the neighborhood of Eritrea. Several sources confirm the Eritrean army’s active participation in the fighting against the TPLF, the dissident party that ruled Eritrea, despite the denials of the two capitals.
From the beginning of the fighting in Tigray, witnesses in Eritrea spoke of significant troop movements towards the border. Eritrean families said their relatives had been mobilized as soon as possible. Refugees from the city of Humera, after crossing the border into Sudan for protection, also declared that the artillery cover that unleashed TPLF fighters came from the Eritrean side of the border.
But cut telecommunications and access to the fighting province were denied to the press and aid workers, it was impossible to confirm the direct involvement of Eritrean troops in the conflict, while Asmara and Addis Ababa were content to deny, not only refusing to respond to requests.
Joint operations with the Ethiopian army
However, the involvement of “thousands of Eritreans” on Tuesday was confirmed to Reuters by a US government source. “There seems to be no more doubt,” said the source, relying on satellite imagery, communications interception and human intelligence. This information was also confirmed to the RFI by a diplomatic source in Addis Ababa, who says Asmara’s troops are “fully committed to the Tigray”.
This commitment was even made clear by former Eritrean Defense Minister Mesfin Hagos and relies on local sources, according to which a dozen infantry units and at least four mechanized units from the Asmara army are fighting today. hui in Ethiopia, as well as a command unit.
They reportedly made breakthroughs at several points on the border, and especially in the village of Zalambessa, in support of Ethiopian troops. And sometimes he explained to RFI, “mixed with her”. They would be today in Mekele and on the Shiraro-Shire axis, as well as in Adoua and Adigrat. A UN humanitarian team claims to have seen Eritrean soldiers moving around the city of Shire as well in the capital Mekele.
Fear of Eritrean refugees in Tigray
The fear is therefore greater now for the 96,000 Eritrean refugees living in four refugee camps in Tigray, deprived of everything. The fighting took place in the Adi Harush camp, south of Shire, according to our colleagues on Radio Erena, and thousands of Eritreans feared the operations of the Eritrean army and Amhara militiamen left on foot in an attempt to join the Sudanese border. A thousand of them also reached Mekele on foot, according to the Red Cross.
Last weekend, a UN team was forced to be barred from entering the Shimelba camp: the fate of those who remained in the camps is therefore unknown, while Eritrean families in the diaspora say they have found some of them in Eritrea, where they were reportedly forcibly returned.
Finally, Eritrea also serves as a reserve and rear base, hence the multiple missile from TPLF, especially at Asmara military airport. According to our colleagues from Radio Erena, the hospitals in Senafe, Adi Kiey, Tessenei, Keren, Barentu and Dekemhare are also full of wounded and dead brought back from the front. A blood donation campaign was launched by the Eritrean government last week.
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