Rebel forces yield the loss of Shire as the UN cautions over air attacks’ ‘disastrous effect’ on civilians.
Published On 18 Oct 2022
The Ethiopian armed force has actually taken control of 3 towns from rebel forces in the war-torn northern Tigray area, the federal government stated, amidst growing alarm about the resurgent dispute pitting federal forces and their allies versus Tigrayan rebels.
” The ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Force] has actually taken control of the towns of Shire, Alamata and Korem without battling in city locations,” the federal government stated in a declaration on Tuesday, after the rebels stated previously that Shire had actually fallen.
Earlier, the Tigray Central Command stated in a declaration that Shire had actually fallen, including that the rebels remained in a “life or death” battle.
Shire, a university town with an airport, sits at a tactical crossroads that might permit the Ethiopian military to acquire larger access to other Tigray locations, such as the towns of Axum and Adwa, or perhaps the local capital, Mekelle, situated 140 km (90 miles) away. The city hosts 10 of countless individuals who were displaced from other locations by the dispute.
Ethiopia’s army and allies consisting of soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea have actually been fighting Tigrayan forces on and off considering that late 2020, a dispute that has actually eliminated thousands, displaced millions and left numerous thousands on the verge of scarcity.
” If we do not protect ourselves versus our opponents, they will continue the atrocities,” the Tigrayan authorities stated.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk previously on Tuesday cautioned that air attacks in the rough area ran the risk of seriously intensifying the currently “destructive effect” of hostilities on civilians, a day after UN chief Antonio Guterres alerted that the war was “spiralling out of control”.
Redwan Hussein, nationwide security consultant to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, snapped back at the UN secretary general’s remarks.
” It was spiralling when being broadened to other areas. Now, it’s simply being snuffed out & & deteriorating. Help & & services (to Tigray) to follow quickly!” Redwan stated, recommending the federal government thought it was making definitive military gains.
Tigrayan forces had actually advanced into neighbouring areas and towards the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, late in 2015 prior to being pressed back. Redwan stated the federal government was awaiting the African Union to reveal a date for peace talks to begin.
The dispute is rooted in long-running competitions in between local power blocs over control of Ethiopia as an entire and in deep differences over how power ought to be well balanced in between federal and local authorities.
The United Nations, the European Union and a number of senior United States federal government authorities have actually all contacted current days for an instant ceasefire, for AU-sponsored speak to start and for Eritrean soldiers to withdraw from Ethiopia.
A tweet on Tuesday by Eritrea’s details minister Yemane Meskel appeared to counter at critics and implicate them of being prejudiced in favour of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant political celebration in the Tigray area and an opponent of Eritrea.
” Sadly, familiar pattern is once again completely display screen: offer implied assistance to TPLF when it lets loose careless offensives by declining all tranquil opportunities & & raise spectre of humanitarian disaster when on retreat,” he composed. He did not state who he was implicating of tacitly supporting the TPLF.
Eritrea is an extremely militarised state that does not brook criticism or permit independent media analysis.
Source
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Al Jazeera and news firms