Ethiopian rebels to consider further retreats as military supplies dry up — opposition diplomat

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia’s Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) will likely consider further retreats from the war fronts with federal forces after most of its military supplies which it said it captured from the government army dried up, a Ethiopian diplomat allied to the TPLF in Nebraska said.

This comes after the Ethiopian Government Communication Service announced in a brief Facebook statement yesterday that federal army and its Amhara regional allies retook several towns, including Dessie and Kombolcha, from the TPLF.

The insurgent group also admitted in a statement by its spokesman Getachew Reda the government recapture of those areas, but then said it was intentionally making tactical territorial adjustments in order to prepare for a huge comeback.

But speaking to Sudans Post in Nebraska, United States, a senior diplomat of the TPLF said on condition of anonymity that a lot of factors, including lack of military supplies had forced the rebel forces to retreat saying such downward trends for the TPLF gains will likely continue for the next few weeks.

“As you know, the regime has secured armaments from neighboring countries and also some Gulf and European countries have also helped the government with weapons and this has changed the power balance between us and the genocidal forces of Abiy Ahmed,” the official said.

“These military aid to Abiy’s regime has changed the dimensions at the battle fields because we depend on weapons we captured from the enemy and so, we decided to retreat and this will continue for next few weeks,” he added.