After sudden defeat, captured Ethiopian troopers are marched to jail

Written by Declan Walsh
Thousands of Ethiopian prisoners of conflict had been paraded by way of the regional capital of Tigray on Friday as jubilant crowds lined the streets to jeer the captives and cheer the Tigrayan forces who solely days earlier had routed one among Africa’s strongest armies.
Many of the troopers bowed their heads and solid their eyes downward. Some needed to be carried on stretchers, and others wore bandages freshly stained with blood.
The swift defeat of the Ethiopian forces was a surprising reversal in a civil conflict that has led to the displacement of practically 2 million individuals within the Tigray area, widespread starvation and studies that civilians had been subjected to atrocities and sexual violence.
The parade of prisoners served as a pointed rebuke to Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, who had proclaimed in a speech Tuesday within the nationwide capital, Addis Ababa, that studies of his troops’ defeat had been “a lie.” He had declared a unilateral cease-fire, he insisted, for humanitarian causes.
Abiy had truly declared victory final yr, solely a couple of month after he initiated the navy operation in Tigray in November — however the preventing had continued for seven extra months.
Flanked by Tigrayan fighters, the columns of defeated Ethiopian troopers had been marching for 4 days from the shortly established battlefield camps the place they’d been held for the reason that preventing ended this week. They flooded the streets of the Tigrayan capital, Mekelle, and had been taken to a big jail on the northern fringe of the town.
A 14-year-old dashed out into the road to run alongside the column, shouting her admiration for the chief of the Tigrayan forces, calling him a “lion.”
“All these soldiers tried to kill us,” the lady, Mearge Gebroemedhin, mentioned a number of moments later, referring to the Ethiopian authorities forces. “But the Tigrayan soldiers showed their mercy. I am proud of our soldiers.”
While some within the crowd jeered the troopers, the onlookers targeted a lot of their anger on Abiy.
Nearly eight months earlier than, Abiy had despatched his forces to Mekelle to wrest energy from the area’s leaders, declaring the transfer was essential as a result of the Tigrayans had held native elections with out permission from the federal authorities, and had tried to seize an Ethiopian navy base.
Now the victorious Tigrayan leaders are again in Mekelle, reoccupying their former places of work.
Ever since Ethiopia introduced a unilateral cease-fire Monday and pulled its troops out of Mekelle, Tigray has skilled electrical energy, telecommunications and web blackouts. The penalties will exacerbate an already dire humanitarian scenario, in response to the United Nations.
International assist businesses warned of a looming humanitarian disaster and mentioned it was unclear if the insurgent victory would permit worldwide help to start out reaching these most in want within the Tigray area, which is bordered by Eritrea to the north and Sudan to the west.
The U.N. mentioned that at the least 350,000 individuals within the conflict-ravaged area had entered a state of famine. The U.S. Agency for International Development put its estimate for these dealing with famine circumstances at 900,000.
On Thursday, a bridge was destroyed that supplied important entry over the Tekeze River to the city of Shire in central Tigray, the place the U.N. estimates there are between 400,000 and 600,000 internally displaced individuals dwelling in dire circumstances.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs mentioned that the bridge had been destroyed by troops belonging to the Amhara Special Forces and the military of Eritrea, which had fought as allies with the Ethiopian troops.
“The bridge’s destruction will have an impact,” mentioned Claire Nevill, a spokesperson for the World Food Program.
Redwan Hussein, an Ethiopian authorities spokesperson, mentioned on Friday that two bridges connecting the Tigray area had been destroyed, however denied that the federal government or allied forces had been accountable. He blamed the Tigrayans.
Analysts say that Abiy, who has served as Ethiopia’s prime minister since 2018 and who received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for making peace with Eritrea and instituting home democratic reforms, now faces super political challenges.
The alliance Ethiopia solid with Eritrea and fighters within the Amhara area may fracture as Ethiopian troops proceed to tug again from direct engagement, and Tigray fighters go on the offensive.
“The Amhara support for him will eventually dwindle,” mentioned Mehari Taddele Maru, a professor of governance and geopolitics on the European University Institute. “The one thing that was holding things together in the Amhara region was the anti-Tigray sentiment. Once the Tigray matter is out of the game, the glue that held his support together is no longer there.”