Ethiopia's army recaptures strategically important town of Chifra from TPLF

In a recent development, Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) had retaken the Chifra town from the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF), state media stated on Sunday. It is the first significant victory over rebel Tigrayan troops since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stepped on the battlefront two days ago, TRT World reported. 

 According to a tweet from the state-owned network Fana Broadcasting, the Ethiopian national flag, as well as the flag of Afar state, flew above the town on Sunday, which also noted that Afar Special Forces assisted in its recapture. After the battle between the Ethiopian army and TPLF forces escalated this month, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) took Chifra, on the boundary between the northern Afar and Amhara provinces. 

Furthermore, as per Sputnik, several photographs on social media revealed that the battle's aftermath, including numerous damaged Soviet-built T-62 tanks and Tigrayan troops' Zu-23 anti-aircraft weapons. On the front lines in Afar, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told Oromia Broadcasting Network, "What you see behind me is a mountain area that was a stronghold for the enemy until yesterday." 

'The battle is underway with a great feat': Prime minister Abiy Ahmed 

Prime Minister went on to say that they have completely cleared the area and highlighted the defensive force's morale to be very high. “The battle is underway with a great feat. Now we have taken Kasagita. Today, we will take over Chifra and Burka. We will continue until Ethiopia’s Freedom is ensured,” Citing PM Abiy Ahmed, Sputnik reported. In addition to this, he landed on the front lines last week after promising to take personal leadership of the fight against the TPLF and its supporters after they seized Debre Sina, a town barely 190 kilometres from Addis Ababa's capital. 

Meanwhile, following the recent victory, the TPLF has been forced out almost completely from the lowlands, and the TPLF's route eastward toward Mile, which is located on the A1 highway leading to Djibouti and through which the TPLF has been attempting to reach for weeks, is now closed. The TPLF has even faced severe opposition from the ENDF and Afari troops east of Bati, south of Chifra, which have blocked their push on Mile from the southwest. 

Conflict between Ethiopian Army and TPLF group

The conflict sparked in November 2020, when the TPLF staged a revolt against Abiy's administration, assaulting ENDF forces in northern Tigray state after Tigrayan elections were ruled illegitimate despite a worldwide suspension due to the COVID-19 epidemic. The TPLF reassembled in the countryside and pushed the ENDF out of Tigray before starting their own assault into the surrounding Afar and Amhara areas in July, despite the ENDF's swift advances in Tigray. Further, according to UN figures, the current violence has resulted in a significant humanitarian disaster, with over 70,000 people escaping across the border into neighbouring Sudan and approximately 4 million more internally displaced. 

(Image: AP)