By Tesfa-Alem Tekle, NAIROBI
Kenya
Ethiopia’s Tigray forces have said that they are withdrawing from territories of the neighbouring Amhara region, which they took control, after fighting resumed a few weeks ago, ending a six-month-long agreed truce.
Fresh fighting between Tigray
and government forces broke out at the end of August.
Eritrea, a sworn enemy of
Tigray leaders, has also deployed its forces as it did during the first phase
of the conflict, which erupted in November 2020.
In a statement, the leadership
of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said the withdrawal from Amhara
region was a “tactical” redeployment of its forces and said it was necessary to
counter a joint offensive by Ethiopian and Eritrean forces from further north.
“Taking into account current
developments, we have found it necessary to make tactical geographical
adjustments” said central command of Tigray forces in a statement issued late
Sunday.
“Accordingly, we have made
geographical adjustments by withdrawing from Amhara areas we had entered the
direction of the South” in order to address the existential danger hovering
over us as a result of the collaborative invasion”
“This decision came about as a
result of our own initiative, not developments on the battlefield there,” the
statement said adding “Over the past three days, our Amy had been implementing
this decision” the central command added.
Tigray leaders however warned
that the withdrawal could be reversed if the government and its allied forces
made further attacks on the southern fronts.
“If this repeatedly destroyed
force makes
further attempts on this
front, it should know that we can re-enter those areas at any moment and in any
direction to ensure our survival” the central command warned.
Tigray forces claimed to have
taken control of large areas in Amhara region by successfully defending and
destroying a massive invasive force of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Tigray leaders said that the
reason their forces were compelled to enter Amhara region after destroying the
enemy force present in this area.
Because “we wanted to occupy
Amhara land, nor was it to turn Amhara land into a battlefield, but to attack
the enemy at a time and place of our choosing”
“We did so to weaken the
enemy’s power, thereby compelling it to come to the negotiating table”
Separately, Tigray
spokesperson Getachew Reda said on Twitter that his region’s forces had
inflicted “tens of thousands” of losses on pro-government units since the
renewed fighting.
Our reporter could not
independently verify these claims, as the war zones in North Ethiopia are
largely cut off from phone and internet access, and journalists are currently
barred from traveling there.
Eritrea’s re-entry into the
Ethiopian conflict has drawn international condemnation.
President Isaias Afwerki’s
government has refused to withdraw its forces from parts of Tigray despite
repeated calls from world powers.
Last month the Tigray forces
said Eritrea had launched a “full-scale” offensive across the region’s northern
border.
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