Ethiopia’s authorities says it has recaptured the strategic cities of Dessie and Kombolcha from Tigrayan rebels.
Ethiopian forces have recaptured the strategic cities of Dessie and Kombolcha from Tigrayan fighters, the federal government mentioned, the most recent signal of the federal government retaking territory it not too long ago misplaced.
Forces aligned with the Tigray Individuals’s Liberation Entrance (TPLF) had taken management of the cities, within the Amhara area, simply greater than a month in the past.
“The historic Dessie metropolis and the commerce and trade hall metropolis, Kombolcha have been freed by the joint gallant safety forces,” the federal government communications service mentioned on Twitter, the most recent in a spherical of territorial beneficial properties claimed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
On Wednesday, the federal government introduced that pro-Abiy forces had recaptured the UNESCO World Heritage Web site of Lalibela, which had fallen to Tigrayan fighters in August.
In an announcement on Sunday, the chief of the TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, denied the federal government was scoring huge victories, saying the rebels had been making strategic territorial changes and remained undefeated.
The battle, which erupted in November 2020, took a pointy turnaround on the finish of October this 12 months, when the TPLF claimed to have captured Dessie and Kombolcha.
Since then, fears of a insurgent march on Addis Ababa have prompted nations resembling the US, France, and the UK to induce their residents to go away Ethiopia as quickly as doable, though Abiy’s authorities says TPLF beneficial properties are overstated and the town is safe.
The battle broke out when Abiy despatched troops into the northernmost Tigray area to topple the TPLF authorities – a transfer he mentioned got here in response to insurgent assaults on military camps.
However the rebels mounted a comeback, recapturing most of Tigray by June, together with the regional capital Mekelle, earlier than increasing into the neighbouring areas of Amhara and Afar.
The combating has killed hundreds of individuals, displaced greater than two million and pushed lots of of hundreds into famine-like situations, in response to United Nations estimates.
Unlawful detentions
Earlier on Monday, six nations, together with the US, expressed concern over experiences of arrests by Ethiopia of Tigrayan residents based mostly on ethnicity amid the nation’s year-old civil battle, urging the federal government to instantly “stop” such acts.
The US, Britain, Canada, Australia, Denmark and the Netherlands cited experiences by the Ethiopian Human Rights Fee and UK-based rights group Amnesty Worldwide on widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans, together with Orthodox clergymen, older individuals and moms with youngsters.
The nations mentioned in a joint assertion they’re “profoundly involved” in regards to the detentions of individuals with out expenses, including that the federal government’s announcement of a state of emergency final month provided “no justification” for mass detentions.
“People are being arrested and detained with out expenses or a courtroom listening to and are reportedly being held in inhumane situations. Many of those acts seemingly represent violations of worldwide regulation and should stop instantly,” the nations mentioned.
Joint assertion on detentions in #Ethiopia.
Learn the total textual content: https://t.co/31ZwRGEwHa pic.twitter.com/w1pv28uCYo
— International Coverage CAN (@CanadaFP) December 6, 2021
They urged Ethiopia’s authorities to permit unhindered entry by worldwide screens.
“It’s clear that there isn’t any navy answer to this battle, and we denounce any and all violence towards civilians, previous, current and future,” the assertion mentioned.