how Abiy Ahmed lost control of his country

On November 28, 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s army seized Makalé, capital of the rebel region of Tigray, 500 kilometers from Addis Ababa. A year later, at the end of November 2021, the insurgents had reconquered their stronghold of Makalé and advanced several hundred kilometers towards the Ethiopian capital.

Since then, the Ethiopian army has succeeded in pushing back the front line, but how can one explain that after a light and victorious campaign, it has retreated so far?

While this conflict zone is inaccessible to independent journalists, propaganda images and videos are plentiful on both sides. “Le Monde” collected and analyzed these images, as well as those of amateurs published on the Internet. They show how, in the summer of 2021, the Tigrayan insurgents managed to regain the advantage thanks to specific combat techniques, but also how the Ethiopian army had to face a new enemy.

Sources :

Abiy Ahmed visit near the front line on November 30, 2021

Ethiopian Air Force plane over Makale, November 16, 2020

Government troops in Makalé, December 5, 2020

Recruitment and speeches for the Tigrayan rebels

– Capture of equipment by TDF rebels here and the

Ethiopian Federal Army prisoners marching in the streets of Makalé, July 3, 2021

Rebels marching together in the streets of Kemise, November 9, 2021

Reports by independent researchers who estimate the number of Tigrayan civilians killed during the conflict at 3,000


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