Tigray

NAIROBI, Kenya - According to state media reports, the commander-in-chief of the Tigraya Defense Force surrendered to the Ethiopian National Defense Force . Colonel Gebrehivot Gebreaelaf, a respected commander in the TDFranks, reportedly deserted on Saturday, which could significantly affect the advancementofTigray's army, which is movinginto Afar and Amhara in northern Ethiopia.State media reported that Colonel Gebrechivot Gebreaelaf sidedwithGasaiwithhim. TDF spokesman Getachew Rada was not available for comment, but…

NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopian National Defense Forces allegedly attacked the Tigray Defense Forces , in what could further escalate tensions in the Tigray region, and possibly derail efforts to restore order in Ethiopia. Over the past nine months, ENDF and TDF have fought for control of Tigray, resulting in mass killings, population displacement, rape and torture. The two sides accused each other of atrocities in the Tigray region. State media report that the TDF under the military command of General Tsadkan Gebretensay…

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…

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…

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…

Ethiopian and Eritrean troops have raped hundreds of women and girls during the Tigray War and subjected some to sexual slavery and mutilation, Amnesty International said in a report on Wednesday. Based on interviews with 63 survivors, the report sheds new light on a scourge already being investigated by Ethiopian law enforcement officials, with at least three soldiers convicted and 25 others charged. Some survivors said they had been raped while held captive for weeks on end. Others described being…

Ethiopia on Tuesday ended a ceasefire against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which had previously stopped the government's military offensive in the north of the country. The announcement to end the ceasefire declared by the government in the conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) came in a statement from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office. Nearly 2 million Ethiopians have been displaced internally as a result of the conflict, while tens of thousands have fled to…