According to eyewitnesses and relief workers, the federal military of Ethiopia’s ally is committing mass detentions and property plundering in Tigray.
More than three weeks after the warring sides reached a truce that diplomats and others believed would put an end to suffering in the troubled area that is home to more than five million people, the tales raise new concerns about suspected crimes.
Even though humanitarian deliveries to the province started after the 2 November peace agreement struck in South Africa, Tigray is still largely blocked off from the rest of Ethiopia.
Human rights researchers have little to no access to the area, which makes it challenging for journalists and others to get information from Tigray as Ethiopian soldiers continue to impose their grip over it.
Shire, a northwest town that was taken from Tigray forces last month, has been looted by Eritrean troops and forces from the neighboring Ethiopian region of Amhara, who have been fighting on the side of Ethiopia’s federal military in the Tigray conflict, according to two aid workers there who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for their safety.
The charity workers said that Eritrean military in Shire had abducted many young people.
After the conquest of Shire, a town with a significant concentration of internally displaced persons, one witness claimed to have witnessed “more than 300” adolescents being gathered up by Ethiopian federal soldiers in many rounds of mass detentions.
Two years of limitations on help have left Tigray in the midst of a severe humanitarian catastrophe.
A UN panel of experts came to the conclusion that Ethiopia’s government undoubtedly employed “starvation as a weapon of warfare” against the area as a result of these limitations.
Tigray residents are not being targeted, according to Ethiopian officials, who claim that their objective is to capture the rebel commanders in the area.
In spite of the African Union-led cease-fire, the majority of Tigray still lacks access to essential services including banking, phone, and power.
According to US estimates, thousands of civilians might have died in the conflict, which was characterized by atrocities on both sides.
According to the terms of the cease-fire agreement, federal authorities must enable “unrestricted humanitarian access” to Tigray.
Although access to some areas of central and eastern Tigray is still “restricted,” the World Food Programme reported on Friday that it has transferred 96 trucks worth of food and fuel to the country since the agreement.
Several constraints still exist, preventing full entry into Tigray despite the volume of vehicles entering the country, a humanitarian official said on Friday.
The amount of money that humanitarian organizations are permitted to bring into Tigray is restricted, and checkpoints and military leaders obstruct relief workers’ travels inside the area, according to the aid worker.
