In a sign of changing the political fortunes of a man who was once an outcast, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki proved to be a faithful ally of Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize winner and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, giving his troops the support needed to combat the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Tigray.
In a recent speech to the Ethiopian parliament, the Nobel Prize winner revealed that Eritrea, a highly militarized one-party state, fed, dressed and armed retreating Ethiopian soldiers when the TPLF first attacked them and seized their bases in Tigray, an Ethiopian region bordering Eritrea.
Abiy said it made it possible for them to return to fight the TPLF, a former guerrilla movement with about 250,000 forces, until it was removed from power in the region on 28 November.
“The people of Eritrea showed us … they are a relative who is with us on a difficult day,” he added.
This was a significant acknowledgment by Mr. Abiy, although he did not go so far as to admit claims that Mr. Isaias also sent troops to help defeat the TPLF, a longtime enemy of the Eritrean leader. who has been in power since 1993.
Hospital allegedly bombed
The claim that Eritrean troops are fighting in Tigray was made by the TPLF, civilians fleeing the conflict and Eritreans inside and outside the country.
“Isaias is sending young Eritreans to die in Tigray. The war will also further weaken the economy. But Isaias will remain in power for a long time. It allows people to fight for their survival so they don’t fight for their freedom, ”said Paulos Tesfagiorgis, an Eritrean human rights activist who was forced into exile by the Asmara regime.
A spokesman for the US State Department also said there were “reliable reports” of the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray, and called this “serious development”.
Both governments deny the reports, with Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed describing them as “propaganda”.
As for the UN chief, António Gueterres, he said that Abiy assured him that there were no Eritrean troops in Tigray, except in the territory that Ethiopia agreed to hand over following a historic peace agreement between the two nations in 2018.
The deal ended the “no war without peace” situation that has existed between the two nations since the 1998-2000 border war, which left about 100,000 dead. This earned Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize, although the territory was not transferred to Eritrea at the time when the conflict in Tigray began in early November.
Abiy’s government severely restricted access to Tigray for the media, UN agencies and human rights bodies, making it difficult to verify reports or investigate allegations of atrocities against all parties to the conflict – including the bombing of a hospital in the the territory of Eritrea.
Eritrea did not comment on the alleged bombing, mentioned in a statement by the UN human rights chief. Abiy denies that his troops killed a single civilian in Tigray.
“This war was fought in absolute darkness. No one knows the true scale of the conflict or its impact,” said Kenya-based analyst Horn of Africa, Rashid Abdi.
Eritrean forces accused of looting
US analyst Alex de Waal said he was informed by a UN source that the conflict caused “large-scale displacement” of people in the region, the poorest in Ethiopia with a population of about five million.
“If it continues, there will be massive famine in Tigray, and a population that is bitter and angry,” said de Waal.
He added that he also learned from reliable sources in Tigray, including clerics, that Eritrean forces were involved in looting.
“We are hearing that they are even stealing doors [and] bathroom accessories, “he said.
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Other Eritreans said that soldiers, including their relatives, were fighting TPLF forces on several fronts, and some of them wore Ethiopian camouflage.
Eritrea insists that it has no troops in Tigray, with its foreign minister quoted as saying: “We are not involved.”
But exiled Eritrean diplomat Abdella Adem said he personally knew soldiers wounded in combat, while a source at the public hospital in Senafe, a southern city in Eritrea, told the BBC that both Eritrean and Ethiopian troops were treated there.
‘Isaias seeks liquidation of TPLF’
Other sources in Eritrea said Ethiopian troops were also seen reuniting around the central city of Hagaz, and taking their wounded to nearby Gilas Military Hospital.
UK-based Eritrean scholar Gaim Kibreab said he believed Isaias had sent troops to Tigray to pursue the TPLF “liquidation”, which, he added, has been the Eritrean leader’s main goal since the 1998- 2000.
The TPLF was in power at the time in the federal government of Ethiopia and the regional government in Tigray.
“In the 1998-2000 war, the TPLF humiliated the president [Mr Isaias] when taking over the small village of Badme. Even when an international court ruled that the village belonged to Eritrea, the TPLF refused to withdraw from the occupied place for 18 years.
“The president was waiting for this moment and the TPLF underestimated his cunning and patience at his own risk,” added Gaim.
Missiles fired at Eritrea
Isaias’ supporters insist that Eritrean troops did not enter Tigray, saying they only pursued the goal of recovering sovereign territory by taking over Badme and surrounding areas without causing casualties.
Expressing a different view, Mr. Paulos said: “Badme is back in the hands of Eritrea, but there has been no public announcement about it because that is not Isaias’ main concern. He is still pressing to crush the TPLF.
“Abiy started out as a peacemaker and reformer, but then fell into the trap of seeking revenge against the TPLF, which was what Isaias wanted.”
Abiy said he tried to resolve differences with the TPLF peacefully, but was forced to act against it after it took military bases in a November 3 night attack, convincing him that it wanted to overthrow its government.
Although Isaias mobilized in his aid at the time, Eritrean state media kept their audiences in the dark about the conflict, failing to even report on the TPLF-fired missiles that landed outside the capital Asmara in early November, causing loud explosions. that were heard by the residents.
“Eritrean TV talks about bombs in Syria, but when the missiles landed in Asmara, it said nothing,” said exiled Eritrean government official Dawit Fisehaye.
In a tweet, Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel said it was “pointless to expand his [the TPLF’s] last-minute, predictable, yet inconsequential acts. “
‘Abducted refugees’
Internet access in Eritrea is limited and the country has no independent media or opposition parties – the fate of 11 politicians and 17 journalists detained for almost 20 years remains unknown.
In addition, military recruitment is mandatory, while employment opportunities are limited, resulting in many people – especially young people – fleeing the country. About 100,000 had lived in UN camps in Tigray for years.
The UN refugee agency said it had received “an overwhelming number of reliable reports” that refugees were killed, kidnapped and forcibly returned to the one-party state during the current conflict.
Although he did not say who was behind the kidnappings, a refugee told the BBC that it was soldiers from Eritrea who loaded them on trucks in the city of Adigrat and took them across the border to the city of Adi Quala.
Eritrea did not comment on its alleged involvement, but it had already accused the UN agency of “smear campaigns” and of trying to depopulate the country.
Mr Dawit said he does not believe that the regime will be reformed.
” There has been no change in Eritrea so far because the leadership did not want it and the end of the TPLF is not going to change that. Waiting for reform is a dream, “he added.