Opposition fighters in Tigray withdraw from regional capital

KAMPALA (AP):

Government-allied fighters entered Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a witness said Sunday, after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced its withdrawal following renewed fighting.

The TPLF last month seized Mekelle airport and the city, one of Ethiopia’s largest. In a statement on Saturday, it said its forces had pulled out. They had done so during the previous two-year war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022, apparently to spare the city from destruction.

Ethiopian Airlines had suspended flights to Mekelle and the Tigrayan cities of Axum and Shire after the rebels seized the airport. The African Union urged restraint, warning that renewed tensions threatened the 2022 agreement.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has tried and failed to subdue Tigray’s rebellious leaders in recent months, with TPLF Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael openly challenging him. Debretsion said on Thursday that the fighting was a “continuation of the previous war” and that his fighters would continue attacking and defending Tigray from its enemies.

RESIDENTS REPORT LOOTING

After federal troops take control of Mekelle, Abiy is very likely to leave regional security in the hands of the Tigray Peace Force, which comprises former members of the TPLF’s armed wing, the Tigray Defence Forces, according to Jalale Getachew Birru, an analyst on Ethiopia for ACLED, an independent global monitor that collects, analyses and maps conflict data.

The Tigray Peace Force is fighting alongside federal troops against the TPLF.

Severe disruptions to Internet and cellphone networks have made gathering and verifying information from Tigray difficult, although some connectivity was reported on Sunday. Residents of Mekelle told The Associated Press on Saturday that federal forces had retaken the airport, although details were scant.

Civilians looted government offices and hauled away equipment from police headquarters in Mekelle as TPLF-allied fighters withdrew, a local business owner who witnessed the departures and looting said on Sunday. The looting targeted the TPLF administration office, the regional police headquarters, and some shops, Filmon Equar Hailu said.

Speaking by phone from Mekelle, Filmon said he saw some TPLF-allied fighters carrying light weapons as they left the city, some on foot. Departures began in small groups about three days ago and continued through Saturday afternoon, he said.

Small groups of fighters from the Tigray Peace Force entered Mekelle, Filmon said, adding that he heard celebratory gunfire overnight and into Sunday morning.

The TPLF is one of seven opposition groups that declared an alliance late last month with the objective of removing Abiy from power. He rose to the premiership in 2018 and was re-elected earlier this year. In addition to once being Tigray’s ruling party, the TPLF was the dominant group in a coalition that governed Ethiopia between 1991 and 2018.

REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS

The fighting has brought renewed hardship to civilians still recovering from the previous war. Residents have described fears of renewed isolation following the suspension of flights. They also reported that roads connecting Tigray and Afar had been closed to civilian traffic.

The conflict is also testing regional alliances, with Ethiopia alleging that the TPLF is receiving support from Eritrea and Egypt. Relations between Ethiopia and Egypt have been strained in recent years because of a large power dam on the Nile River, which Cairo opposes over concerns that it could reduce the amount of water reaching Egypt.

Abiy also angered Eritrea with his stated wish for Ethiopia to gain sovereign access to the Eritrean Red Sea port of Assab.

Ethiopia on Thursday closed its embassy in Eritrea and ordered 10 Eritrean diplomats to leave Addis Ababa, the federal capital, citing their alleged “involvement in activities that pose a direct threat to Ethiopia’s national security”. Eritrea retaliated by announcing that it was severing diplomatic ties with its neighbour.

Egypt denies supporting the TPLF, and Eritrea says Abiy is trying to externalise an internal conflict.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki travelled to Egypt on a working visit at the invitation of his counterpart there, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said on Saturday.

Afwerki and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi would “discuss further enhancement of bilateral ties during the visit”, Yemane said on social media platform X.