Ethiopia claims Tigray forces defeated in Afar region; TPLF says 'mere redeployment'

As the conflict has spread into the Afar region, Ethiopian Federal Government has claimed that Tigrayan forces were defeated in the war-hit region. Following the defeat, Tigray has withdrawn forces from the region, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Dina Mufti said at a presser. Denying the claims, Tigray informed that it has "merely redeployed" troops from the Afar region to the more offensive Amara region.

"The Afar Militia has been working in close collaboration with the National Defence forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has sustained a lot of losses over the past weeks," Ethiopian Prime Ministerial Abiy Ahmed’s Spokesperson Billene Seyoum said at a presser.

According to Al Jazeera, Mufti asserted that the TPLF forces "were defeated and left." Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Spokesperson Billene Seyoum also claimed that the militia in the war-torn regions of Afar has been working in close collaboration with the national defence forces, following which the TPLF have "sustained" heavy losses over the past weeks. Meanwhile, refuting all claims made by Ethiopia, Tigrayan Spokesperson Getachew K Reda mentioned that they had decided to move the army to the Amara highlands to curb violence in the area. However, either claim remains unverified so far.

Tigray denies defeat

Meanwhile, through a series of Twitter posts, Advisor to the President of Tigray State Getachew K Reda rubbished the claims made by the Ethiopian counterpart. "Stories they are churning out every minute to hoodwink their supporters into believing they are reversing our advance are simply not true. There was no fighting in #Afar, and the fighting in Amhara region is proceeding in a manner that will make sure #Abiy cannot lie his way out," he wrote. He also added that Ethiopia is "trying to have their supporters believe that they are making advances in the battlefield in Amhara and Afar" but "they are not." "Thousands (of the Ethiopian forces) are being mopped down by our forces," Reda asserted.

The conflict between Tigray and Northern Ethiopia

Months after Nobel Peace Prize winner Ethiopian Prime Minister Agbiy Ahmed took the chair, he launched a "coordinated attack" against the rebel forces in the Northern Tigray region in November 2020. The Prime Minister made the call after the Afar leftist political front TPLF besieged a key Ethiopian military base at Sero by using tanks and machine guns. This had led to the inition of a 10-month long prolonged war in the region.

Thousands of people have lost their lives due to the shelling in the Horn of Africa, while over 2 million have been displaced, as per reports. In January 2021, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) informed that about 56,000 fled to neighbouring Sudan amidst the ongoing war.

Meanwhile, PM Abiy had promised to hold a national-level democratic election including the TPLF. However, the elections were delayed due to the ongoing pandemic. To which, the TPLF expressed displeasure by stating that the postponed elections have amounted to an unconstitutional extension of Abiys Prime Ministerial term. The Ethiopian Federal Government also declared the Tigray elections invalid.

Image: AP/representative