Ethiopian rebels say Eritrean forces attacked Tigray area

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopia’s Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has accused the Eritrean army of launching attack on an area northwest of Tigray region, amid continued Ethiopian army airstrikes.

This comes as aid organizations in the war-ravaged Tigray region suspended operations after a deadly airstrike by Ethiopian federal forces resulted in the killing of at least 56 people, including children, on a refugee camp northwest of Tigray.

In a tweet, TPLF spokesman Getachew K. Reda said Eritrean forces launched attack on Sigem Kofolo, accusing Eritrea of aggression against Tigray which has been destroyed by conflict for a year.

“The Eritrean military launched fresh attacks against our forces yesterday in Sigem Kofolo, Afi Tsetser, located in Northwestern Tigray close to Sheraro town. The latest attack is an extension of its aggression against the people of Tigray. It also signals the regime’s brazen disregard of international law,” Getachew said in the tweet.

The Eritrean military launched fresh attacks against our forces yesterday in Sigem Kofolo, #AfiTsetser, located in Northwestern Tigray close to #Sheraro town. The latest attack is an extension of its aggression against the people of Tigray. It also signals the regime’s brazen

— Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) January 9, 2022

“Equally important, it clearly shows how determined the regime in Asmara is to continue to sabotage any & all peacemaking efforts in the region ostensibly to protect ‘Ethiopia’s unity’, as President Isaias made it clear in his interview yesterday,” the rebel spokesman added.

Early on Saturday, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki told a local government-run Television Channel that his forces will exert all efforts at their disposal to prevent TPLF rebels from attacking Eritrea, or from threatening the stability of Ethiopia.

Getachew said President Isaias, by those comments “given instructions to Abiy Ahmed to dismantle ethnic federalism” and urged the international community “to take actions to compel this regime to respect elementary rules of [international] law & hold it accountable for its crimes.”

Ethiopia has been in a conflict for more than a year. The conflict has fitted the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian federal forces. It begun after a TPLF contingent attacked a federal army base in the Tigray last November.

Eritrea had initially joined the conflict supporting the Ethiopian federal army, but then withdrew after the United States imposed sanctions on senior army commanders responsible for launching cross-border attacks against the Tigray.