These contradictory assertions come in full talks since Monday between military leaders of the two camps in Nairobi, on the implementation of the peace agreement signed on November 2 in Pretoria, in particular the disarmament of the rebel forces, the restoration of the federal authority in Tigray and the delivery of aid.
“70% of Tigray is under the control of the ENDF”, the Ethiopian National Defense Force, assures on Twitter Redwan Hussein, national security adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, adding that “aid is flowing in like never before” in Tigray, “even in areas not controlled by the ENDF”.
These assertions “are not based on any reality”, replied to AFP Getachew Reda, spokesman for the rebel authorities of Tigray.
An aid worker based in Tigray also denied to AFP any arrival of aid in this region of six million inhabitants almost cut off from the world and in the grip of a very serious humanitarian crisis.
Mr Redwan did not specify whether the ENDF’s control of “70% of Tigray” resulted from military conquests prior to the peace agreement or from withdrawals or transfers of authority by rebel forces since OK.
– “no help allowed” –
The resumption of fighting at the end of August had interrupted the bulk of the delivery of food and medicine to Tigray, already insufficient before, and the region has been deprived of services such as telecommunications, electricity or banks for more than a year.
According to Mr. Redwan, “35 trucks of food and three trucks of medicine have arrived in Shire”, a large city in northern Tigray, under the control since mid-October of federal forces and its ally the Eritrean army, and “thefts are allowed”.
“What Mr Redwan is tweeting is completely false, absolutely no aid is allowed into Shire,” a humanitarian source based in the city told AFP, on condition of anonymity, adding that “no service has been restored and no flights are allowed”.
Despite the peace agreement, access to part of northern Ethiopia, including Tigray, remains forbidden to journalists and it is therefore impossible to verify these assertions and to know the precise positions of the belligerents before or since the peace agreement.
Mr. Redwan’s tweet could respond to that published by the Africa Bureau of the US State Department, quoting him by name and calling for the respect of the commitments made in Pretoria.
– American impatience –
“Redwan Hussein had said (Monday) in Nairobi that humanitarian aid would flow in unhindered by the end of the week as agreed in Pretoria”, recalls the Africa office in its tweet. “Vulnerable Ethiopians in Tigray, Afar and Amhara (neighboring regions also affected by the conflict, nldr) need help now”.
“We are waiting for urgent measures so that the “peace” agreement is respected and implemented, adds American diplomacy, with the hashtag “
On Wednesday, WHO boss Tedros Adhanom, himself a Tigrayan and former senior official of the party from which the rebel authorities came, had already denounced the lack of arrival of aid in Tigray since the agreement.
“After the ceasefire agreement, I expected food and medicine to arrive immediately. This is not the case,” Dr Tedros told reporters, asking for their “immediate delivery”. and “the reopening of basic services” as well as press access to Tigray.
The conflict in Tigray began in November 2020 when Mr. Abiy sent the federal army there to arrest leaders in the region who had challenged his authority for months and whom he accused of attacking federal military bases there.
The results of this war, marked by countless abuses and which took place largely behind closed doors, are unknown. But the International Crisis Group (ICG) and Amnesty International (AI) describe it as “one of the deadliest in the world”.
