Sunday 31 October 2021
Fight for the important city of Dessie
Ethiopia’s army backs away from rebels
In Ethiopia, the rebels from the Tigray region are on the advance. Now the insurgents report the capture of the strategically important city of Dessie. The central government denies and only speaks of a tactical withdrawal of its troops.
According to official information, Ethiopia’s government troops have decided to tactically withdraw from parts of the embattled city of Dessie in order to avoid civilian casualties. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced the day before that they had brought the city in the Amhara region under their control. The central government denied that.
Government spokesman Legesse Tulu announced on that there were still fierce fighting in and around Dessie and the neighboring town of Kombolcha. In view of the largely blocked telephone and Internet connections, there was initially no independent information. The two cities are strategically important. They are located on a main artery that leads to the capital Addis Ababa, around 400 kilometers to the south.
After the government troops announced that they had withdrawn, the affected Amhara region declared a de facto state of emergency. With a few exceptions, all government institutions must support the war effort with immediate effect, as stated in an “urgent call to action” that evening. All vehicles are requisitioned for the military; the security forces may expressly take action against anyone who hinders the war effort. In addition, all activities in the municipalities are prohibited after 8 p.m., as announced by the State Council of the Amhara region.
Washington calls for an immediate ceasefire
The US government had already responded on Saturday to the first reports of a Dessie case by calling on both sides to immediately start negotiations on a ceasefire without preconditions. In addition, the TPLF should withdraw from the Afar and Amhara regions bordering Tigray and avoid artillery bombardment of cities. There is no military solution to the conflict, said US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Saturday.
The military conflict began about a year ago when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed began ousting the TPLF, which was in power in the Tigray region. She dominated Ethiopia for a good 25 years until Abiy came to power in 2018. Many people in Tigray feel that they are not represented by the central government and are demanding more autonomy.
Since the beginning of August, the conflict has spread to the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara. The clashes have led to a serious humanitarian crisis in the north of the country. There are also increasing calls on social media calling for Tigrayers to be excluded from Ethiopia’s public life. In his statement today, Tulu called on the public to track down and isolate unspecified “traitors”.