Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, chief of staff of Ethiopia’s federal army, told Al Jazeera on September 27 that the army is answering what he called provocations from the Tigray front with “wisdom and restraint.” They were his first comments on the latest fighting in the north. He accused Eritrea of funding and supporting armed groups to weaken Ethiopia. He also spoke of “Tsimdo” (ጽምዶ). Addis Standard reports that Ethiopian officials use the word for what they describe as an alliance of Eritrea, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, and other armed groups. Eritrean and Tigrayan officials have described Tsimdo as a peace and reconciliation initiative between communities. Berhanu Jula said it was part of a longer pattern of hostile alliances that cannot confront the state without outside backing.
Al Jazeera reported that the army command prefers a strategy of “strategic calm” to a large-scale military confrontation. It said the command argued that the Tigray front’s popular support is falling and its leadership is divided.
Fighting has spread from Tigray into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. It followed the announcement by seven armed groups of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, a coalition that says it wants to remove Abiy Ahmed’s government. Al Jazeera said the latest battles in Afar have been around Abala, where the military has been trying to keep rebels from taking the town. In North Wollo, the army said on Thursday it had killed 272 Tigrayan fighters and wounded 260 in a counter-offensive.
Addisalem Balema, a central committee member of the TPLF, told Al Jazeera the situation had become a “full war.” The TPLF’s Tigray Army said the federal government had launched a “full-scale offensive” with infantry, mechanised units, and drones. Al Jazeera said fighting has also continued around Sama, Sekota, and Raya Alamata, with government forces reportedly closing in on Alamata.
The Amhara Association of America (AAA) published an urgent update on September 26. AAA said it had learned that more than 29 high-profile Amhara prisoners of conscience face life-threatening conditions and serious health and safety concerns while in what it called illegal detention. According to information received by AAA, seven of the 29 detainees were moved to undisclosed locations after the evening of September 25.
Among the seven, AAA named Dr. Wondwossen Assefa, who it said was moved from Kaliti Prison to Kilinto Prison as of September 26. AAA said he had earlier been separated from other detainees and placed in an area called “Zone 6,” which is used for military personnel accused of serious crimes. It said he was held in a cramped cell and that his health has seriously worsened, on top of earlier health problems including chronic pain.
AAA said the transfer was carried out under “orders from above” attributed to an official it identified only as Commissioner Teklu. Advocacy groups called for an independent check on his condition, immediate medical care, and humane detention conditions. They also asked for contact with his family and lawyers, and for the authorities to explain the reason and legal basis for his transfer.
Fighting has also been reported inside Amhara. In a September 26 Al Jazeera video, armed fighters from Ethiopia’s Fano movement claimed to have seized more than 10 military trucks carrying ammunition, machine guns, and mortar shells in the Amhara region. Al Jazeera noted that fighting has intensified since the new alliance was formed. The figures are claims by Fano fighters and have not been confirmed by independent reporters or by the army.
A September 16 Zegabi report on AAA’s September 7 to 13 weekly update recorded battles and rights violations across eight Amhara zones. An earlier Zegabi report, on September 11, carried an unverified claim that Fano fighters took more than 150 federal soldiers prisoner in the Wadla-Delanta-Dawunt area of North Wollo on September 8. Shabelle Media Network first reported the claim. Shabelle noted that the claim could not be independently verified, and Zegabi reported no immediate confirmation from the army.
Alemayehu Weldemariam, a professor of law at Indiana University, told Al Jazeera that the federal government bears much of the blame for the collapse of the Pretoria Agreement. He pointed to fuel, service, and cash restrictions on Tigray and to the failure to set up the interim administration the deal had promised. “This war has been in the making for a while now,” he said.
Jervin Naidoo, a senior political analyst at Oxford Economics Africa, told Al Jazeera that there have been consistent violations on both sides since the end of the war. He said the government would portray the TPLF as “a belligerent group trying to destabilise Ethiopia,” while Tigrayan leaders could present the fighting as protecting their region.
Internet access was reportedly cut across northern Ethiopia on Friday, a day after the United Nations said it was alarmed by reports of drones being used against civilians, Al Jazeera reported.
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