A member of the Amhara Special Forces observes when crossing the border with Eritrea in Humera, Ethiopia.
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
A week after reaching an agreement with the Ethiopian prime minister to withdraw from the Tigray region, Eritrean forces showed no sign of leaving.
The forces have not cleared the area or shown any intention to leave, according to Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, whose forces are fighting a coalition of Ethiopian federal forces, regional Amhara forces and Eritrean forces in Tigray for the past five months.
“They didn’t leave,” said Getachew in an interview with Al Jazeera. “In fact, there is no intention on the part of the Eritrean regime to withdraw its forces.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced last week that Eritrea had agreed to withdraw its troops, days after he declared his presence in the region. The announcement came after increased diplomatic pressure, as well as accusations related to the crimes committed in the Tigray region in Ethiopia.
‘In fact, since Abiy’s announcement of Isaiah’s tweet’ agreement to withdraw its forces, Eritrea has increased the influx of its forces in Tigray by leaps and bounds, ”said Getachew, referring to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki. The withdrawal is “unthinkable” for the survival of Abiy and the Eritrean president, Getachew said, and that tens of thousands of Ethiopian forces have died.
Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to resolve a long-standing conflict on the border with Eritrea, ordered an incursion into Tigray after the region’s administrators, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front forces, attacked a federal military camp in the region. The drop in violence came after months of tensions between federal and regional authorities.
The European Union and the United Nations condemned the atrocities reported in Tigray, and the latter came from G-7 foreign ministers, who issued a statement on Friday, saying “We condemn the murder of civilians, sexual and gender violence, indiscriminate bombings and the forced displacement of Tigray residents and refugees from Eritrea” .
The months of fighting have caused at least $ 1 billion in damage to infrastructure in Tigray, according to the Ethiopian government.
The Eritrean and Ethiopian authorities have not confirmed the withdrawal. The Eritrean Ministry of Information and the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia did not immediately answer questions.