Ethiopia

TDF children and soldiers among thousands detained in Oromia, Ethiopia NAIROBI, Kenya - A number of young children are among those held by Ethiopian authorities, it has been said, in the new wave of detentions targeting Tigrayans, on suspicion of supporting the Tigray Defense Force. . In an interview with The Associated Press on a hidden phone, one of the detainees described the harsh conditions…

Abiy Ahmed visited Ankara on Wednesday, August 19, where he met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. A visit organized on the 125th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The program of the meeting included military relations around the Tigrayan conflict but also obstacles to rebirth, economic…

Turkey calls for peaceful settlement of Tigray conflict ANKARA, Turkey - The Turkish government has called for a peaceful resolution of the Tigray conflict, which is now spreading to other parts of Ethiopia, a big setback for ongoing efforts to stabilize the Horn of Africa nation. During the past nine months, the Tigray Defense Forces and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces , fought for…

NAIROBI, Kenya - With the Ethiopian conflict now spreading from Tigray to other neighboring states such as Afar and Amhara, it has been reported that the Ethiopian national defense forces have used sophisticated drones from Iran in their operations. The Tigray Defense Forces who particularly disagreed with the Federal Army, has often claimed that the military uses armed drones from an air base in neighboring Eritrea. For a time, the only firm, open source evidence of the Ethiopian government's use of drones were…

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Ethiopian federal government announced the arrest of at least 32 people believed to be agents of the Tigray Defense Forces , a faction in the Tigray region thatconflicts with the authorities in Addis Ababa. The commission said Tuesday it had arrested 32 TDF officers trying to cross the border into the region into Ethiopia inorder to carry out the group's destructive activities in the country. The 32 people are currently in police custody awaiting trial. State media alleged the suspects were TDF…

Young children are among those being held amid a new wave of ethnic Tigray detentions suspected of supporting Tigray forces in Ethiopia's growing war, a detainee said, while witnesses and a human rights watchdog described new disappearances in recent weeks. In an interview with the Associated Press (AP) on a hidden phone, described one of the detained gloomy conditions in which more than 700 soldiers in Tigrayan, their families and pensioners are being held in a camp in Ethiopia's Oromia region. He…

NAIROBI, Kenya - Human Rights Watch report suggests Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily detained, forcibly disappeared, and committed other abuses against Tigrayans in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in what now Tigray Defense Forces confirms allegations of mass killings in the Tigray region. HRW now wants the Ethiopian authorities to immediately report on the enforced disappearance of the Tigrayans, release those detained without credible evidence of a crime, and end all discriminatory treatment. On June 28, after…

Ethiopia: TDF accuses UN of lying as conflict in Tigray escalates NAIROBI, Kenya - The Tigray Defense Forces accused a UN body of misleading the public about alleged deaths in Galicoma in the Afar region, where the separatist group has been accused of opening fire, killing children and innocent women . Henrietta Fore, the Executive Director of UNICEF, released a statement last week accusing TDF…

Paris has suspended an agreement on military cooperation between France and Ethiopia, sources said on Friday in the middle of the ongoing conflict in the north of the African country. The agreement between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Emmanuel Macron in March 2019 was terminated in early July. Macron and Abiy had signed an agreement in which France would borrow 85 million euros ($ 100 million) to support Ethiopia's ambition to build a navy. Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for…

Amnesty International says women and girls in Tigray were raped and sexually abused by Ethiopian soldiers and their allies in an attempt to inflict lasting physical and mental harm. In a new report, the rights group says that stories of gang rape, sexual slavery and sexual mutilation amount…