Ethiopian federal forces were in full control of the Tigray rebels’ regional capital, a local journalist said on Sunday, while Ethiopia’s regional rivals gathered in Egypt to discuss the risk of a wider war.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces began fighting again on September 23, sparking fears of a return to the devastating civil war of 2020-2022.
The presidents of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea — all of whom have difficult relations with Ethiopia — were set to meet in the Egyptian city of Alamein on Sunday to discuss the conflict.
Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of directly backing the Tigray rebels, with the added support of Sudan and Egypt, which all three countries deny.
A counter-offensive has seen Ethiopian forces push deep into rebel-held territory, entering the regional capital, Mekelle, on Saturday without a fight, as TPLF leaders and troops abandoned the city.
Federal troops were patrolling Mekelle and manning key institutions on Sunday, a local journalist told AFP, as communications were restored for the first time in more than a week.
“We have taken control of Mekelle and we are marching forward,” a commander with a pro-government militia told AFP.
Businesses and shops remained closed, with owners moving stock to safer locations ahead of time, fearing looting and vandalism.
“There are no police. Last night, we had to organise ourselves and take care of security,” one resident told AFP, like others speaking on condition of anonymity because of the uncertainty of the situation.
– Egypt mini-summit –
The mini-summit in Alamein — on the sidelines of an African Business Forum — was set to bring together Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
Before the talks, Sisi urged “dialogue, not confrontation”, as concerns grow that Ethiopia’s escalating violence could spill across borders.
Eritrea, which shares a long border with the Tigray region, is most directly involved in the conflict.
It accuses landlocked Ethiopia of planning to invade and seize access to its coastline. Analysts say it has backed the rebels in Ethiopia in a bid to keep the conflict away from its border.
The TPLF has long been the dominant force in Tigray, ousting a government-appointed administration this year.
The rebels’ leader Debretsion Gebremichael implied this week that the group would continue guerrilla-style attacks as they did when Mekelle fell to government forces in 2020 during the last war.
Their insurgent campaign ultimately led to the TPLF retaking the city the following year.
“We operate under a strategy to strike the enemy wherever we choose,” Debretsion said.
– ‘Cooperation, not competition’ –
Addressing the African Union’s mid-year coordination summit, Sisi said Egypt opposed foreign interference in African states and called for relations to be based on “mutual respect, good neighbourliness, dialogue and consultation, far from unilateral policies or narrow interests”.
He said cross-border challenges “require cooperation, not competition, and dialogue, not confrontation”, including in managing natural resources and transboundary rivers in accordance with international law.
The remarks come against the backdrop of Egypt’s long-running dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile.
The TPLF ruled all of Ethiopia from 1991 until 2018, when it was marginalised with the rise of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who hails from the Oromia region.
The tensions led to a civil war from 2020 to 2022 that left more than 600,000 dead, according to the African Union, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in the world in recent times.
The Pretoria peace agreement of 2022, brokered by African institutions and Washington, was never fully implemented but still helped keep a degree of peace until last year.
With AFP
