Civil war in Ethiopia: Tigray rebels want to withdraw

In Ethiopia, the rebels from the Tigray region have announced that they will withdraw their troops from the conquered areas. They even suggested a truce. The central government senses a tactical maneuver behind the announcement.

The insurgents in Ethiopia have announced their withdrawal to the north. “I have ordered the units of the Tigray Army that are outside the borders of Tigray to withdraw to the borders of Tigray with immediate effect,” wrote the leader of the rebel group TPLF, Debretsion Gebremichael, to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

In his letter, Debretsion also proposed a ceasefire, which should be followed by negotiations. Other proposals included a no-fly zone over the embattled Tigray region and the imposition of an international arms embargo on Ethiopia and Eritrea. A TPLF spokesman had previously told the AFP news agency that the group wanted to “open the door to humanitarian aid”. Therefore, the rebels would withdraw from the Amhara and Afar areas.

Distrust in the capital

So far, the leaders of the TPLF had stated that the central government’s insistence on its withdrawal from these parts of the country made negotiations impossible. The order to evacuate the areas, however, coincides with the strong land gains made by the Ethiopian army and its allies in recent weeks.

Important cities in the Amhara and Afar regions were retaken by the Ethiopian army, forcing the Tigray fighters to retreat further into their region. The spokeswoman for the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Billene Seyoum, therefore believes that the rebels’ announcement serves to cover up military defeats.

Therefore, the group is now declaring a “strategic withdrawal,” said the spokeswoman. However, there are still retreat areas for the TPLF in Amhara. The rebels also tried to re-ignite the conflict on “other fronts”.

Fear of famine

The UN Human Rights Council decided on Friday to launch an international investigation into possible human rights violations in the conflict in Ethiopia. The United Nations accuses all parties to the conflict with serious human rights violations. Human rights groups have repeatedly complained that civilians are tortured and arbitrarily detained in the Amhara area. Around 400,000 people are said to be there before starving.

The conflict between the government in Addis Ababa and the TPLF began in November 2020 with an offensive by government forces in Tigray. The rebel group responded with a counter-offensive. Thousands of people have been killed and more than two million more displaced since then.