Horn of Africa

Photo: In Aksum, Tigray region of Ethiopia. Credit: Rod Waddington.

As A Tigrayan, My Bond with Ethiopia Feels Beyond Repair

Viewpoint by Temesgen Kahsay

The author is an Assistant Professor at the Norwegian School of Leadership and Theology. The following appeared first in 'African Arguments' on January 12, 2021.

OSLO (IDN) – We’re told the war is not with ordinary Tigrayans. Yet as thousands suffer and our compatriots remain silent, that’s how it feels.

As a child growing up in the then Ethiopian city of Asmara in the 1980s, my parents used to ask me what I wanted to be when I was older. My answer was always that I either wanted to be a fighter pilot or army general. The reason was simple. My father was a soldier in the Ethiopian army under the Derg regime and I too wanted to kill the nation’s “enemies”.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 January 2021

Photo: Tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border from Ethiopia to Sudan, fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. © WFP/Leni Kinzli

Fierce Fighting Blocks the UN Access to Refugee Camps

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Fierce fighting has been reported for the last two or three days on the Tekeze belt of Abi Adi of Tigray Central Zone, between Tigray forces and Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) and Eritrean forces.

Intense fighting in the North Western zone of Tigray, Endebaguna area, specifically DebreAbay and Meili area between Tigray forces and ENDF together with Eritrean troops.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 10 January 2021

Photo: The African Union Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat. Source: African Union

The AU Peace Process to Solve the Conflict in Tigray Alleged to Have Been Undermined

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Ethnic Tigray soldiers suspended and/or returned from Ethiopian peace-keeping missions are being reportedly imprisoned by the Ethiopian Federal Government. Ethnic Tigrayan military attachés in Ethiopian diplomatic services abroad are being sacked.

Eritrean soldiers were ambushed by Tigrayan forces East of Wukro. Pictures have emerged of the ambush between Mekoni and Mekelle. Also, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) forces were ambushed by Tigray forces.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 08 January 2021

Image: Nest box for Columba guinea (considered a symbol of peace) in the wall of a homestead in Zerfenti, a village in Tigray where hundreds were killed by Derg bombings. CC BY-SA 4.0

Uncertainty Stalks Ethiopia, the Tigray Region and the Horn of Africa

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A video has emerged of the head of the Ethiopian Northern Command, General Belay, saying that the Eritrean Soldiers in Tigray had not been invited and were undesirable. It is the latest statement by an Ethiopian Federal official which confirms the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray.

General Belay is blaming the TPLF for starting the conflict and stopping the ENDF from guarding the border against Eritrean intrusion. Eritrea has provided major support to ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Force) during the invasion of Tigray. This has been confirmed by the Ethiopian government as well.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 07 January 2021

Photo credit: Tens of thousands of refugees have crossed the border from Ethiopia to Sudan, fleeing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. © WFP/Leni Kinzli

UN Concerned Over the Situation of Refugees from Tigray

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The US Secretary of the Treasury Mnuchin is due to visit Khartoum on January 6. The aim of the visit is to review the economic situation, as well as the US assistance to Sudan. Mnuchin will also visit other countries in the region such as Egypt, Qatar and Israel.

The UN estimates that more than 322,000 people are Internally Displaced (IDP). The provisional Tigrayan government reported yesterday that it believed there were 2.2 million IDPs.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 05 January 2021

Food Insecurity and Drought Threaten Ethiopia as Armed Forces Withdraw from Rural Areas in Tigray

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Clashes between Ethiopia and Sudan ended, after the Ethiopian army withdrew last week away from the border. Several sources say that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF) are retreating from rural areas in Tigray towards the capital Mekelle. This corroborates other sources.

Fighting continues to take place around Mekelle. Shelling has been observed near Hagere Selam, 50 kilometers from the regional capital. Civilians are afraid of ENDF soldiers as they are said to take revenge on civilians after losing a battle.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 04 January 2021

Photo: Chinese UNAMID peacekeepers (file photo) Credit: UNAMID/Albert Gonzalez Farran

Unease as UN Peace Mission in Sudan Ends and Ethiopian Soldiers Return Home

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The TPLF is keeping control of mountainous areas in Tigray. As many analysts predicted when Mekelle was taken, the ENDF has had difficulties driving the TPLF out of well entrenched mountain positions.

The ENDF has launched an offensive towards Samre, East of Mekelle.

Meanwhile, cruelties against civilians are reported. These include forcing relatives to commit incest on women and girls under the threat of arbitrary execution.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 03 January 2021

Things Getting Complicated for Ethiopia

Compiled by EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Multiple sources state that Eritrean soldiers are blocked in attempts to leave Tigray. Heavy fighting between Ethiopia National Defence Forces (ENDF) and Tigray Defence Forces (TDF) is taking place near the major roads out to Eritrea. This has stopped the Eritrean transfer of looted goods out of the region.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 02 January 2021

Photo: Millions of children in Ethiopia's Tigray out of reach. Credit: Anadolu Agency.

An Overview of the Situation in Tigray as 2021 Begins

By EEPA

BRUSSELS (IDN) – More than two million children in Tigray do not have access to food, water and safety and may have been displaced. While there is a severe humanitarian situation regarding 100.000 Eritrean refugees in Tigray; full humanitarian access has not been given.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 01 January 2021

Photo: The Tigray region faces some of the toughest development challenges in Ethiopia. (file photo). Credit: UNICEF/Zerihun Sewunet

UN Supplies Food for 25,000 Refugees in Tigray Region

Compiled by Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – For the first time since mid-October, some 25,000 Eritrean refugees, sheltering in two camps in the unsettled Tigray region of Ethiopia, have received desperately needed food aid, reports UN News.

"Families, women, men, children — even new-borns — have been cut off from supplies and essential services for many weeks, so this distribution was urgently needed," said Ann Encontre, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Representative in Ethiopia.