According to various reports and allegations on social media, three additional countries are allegedly involved in the fighting in the northern Tigray region of Ethiopia: Eritrea, Somalia and the United Arab Emirates. DW Fact Check investigates the claims.
1. Eritrea: invited or not?
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) accuses neighboring Eritrea of deploying troops in support of Ethiopia’s military campaign aimed at “restoring the rule of law” in the region.
In July 2018, Ethiopia and Eritrea signed a peace agreement and plan to promote ‘intimate cooperation’. After the rapprochement, relations between Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the TPLF and the Tigray regional administration deteriorated sharply.
In the early days of the conflict, which erupted in November 2020, both Eritrea and Ethiopia denied that Eritrean troops were involved. “There is no reason for the military to seek additional outside support,” Ethiopian Defense Minister Kenea Yadeta said in a press release in November, adding that “the military will not fight its own country working with an external force. “
Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed told Reuters: “This is an internal conflict. We are not part of the conflict. ”
However, photos and video footage posted on social media described the presence of Eritrean troops. On March 11, a video began circulating showing two military tanks crossing a city. In the footage follow soldiers with a caravan of donkeys and mules, some shoulder guns, others hanging yellow jerrycans with their hands.
DW confirmed that this video was indeed filmed in Adigrat, the second largest city in Tigray, on a highway that runs from the Eritrean-Ethiopian border to the capital Mekelle. The federal government seized Adigrat during the third week of conflict.
But it remains unclear when exactly the footage was shot and who it depicts. Activists and locals who spread similar images claim to be able to identify Eritrean troops by their military camouflage clothing, also known as ‘six-color desert’, and sandal-like plastic shoes known as shida.
The differences in Ethiopian and Eritrean military attire can be seen in another picture shared on social media as alleged evidence of Eritrea’s involvement in the war in northern Ethiopia. Compared to the news agency photos of the Ethiopian and Eritrean army, the uniforms look similar. But the arm and chest areas of the uniform, which usually carry military insignia, are digitally obscured in this image.
However, DW could not independently verify or refute the allegations that the images changed to amplify a shout. Pro-government forces have accused TPLF in the past of taking such measures.
Confirmation of officials
Two officials within Tigray’s interim government strayed from the central government’s official line in Addis Ababa and spoke out, saying Eritreans were present in the region and taking part in the conflict.
DW confirmed that at least two interim government officials had been fired for commenting on the presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray.
Interim government chief executive Mulu Nega and communications chief Etenesh Nigussie declined to comment.
In early March, Dina Mufti, spokeswoman for the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry (MoFA), said in a press release to journalists that there was no “official invitation” from his government to Eritrea to involve the conflict. ‘As a sovereign country, you can invite Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan. “What we are saying is that there is no situation where the Eritrean government, the Eritrean troops, are officially invited,” Mufti said.
But according to Mufti, who did not deny the existence of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray, there is a possibility. ‘Because the border is long and porous, they (Eritrean soldiers) could be seen at the border area. “They were able to enter here (Ethiopia) during the chaos,” Mufti said.
International pressure
Despite the denial of Addis Ababa and Asmara, diplomatic pressure is mounting to withdraw Eritrean troops.
The Addis Ababa diplomats from Germany, Sweden and the EU took to Twitter last week, after visiting the war-torn region of northern Ethiopia. For the European Union delegation to Ethiopia, which participated in the Tigray Interim Government briefing, the ‘withdrawal of the Eritrean army’ is one of its priorities.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to Congress on March 10 about the presence of Eritreans in Ethiopia. “As you know, we have forces from Eritrea there, and we have forces from a neighboring region, Amhara, that is there. They have to get out … ”
The German embassy said in a Twitter statement: ‘We are calling them again [Eritrean troops] withdrawal, full humanitarian access to and media, and independent investigations into human rights violations and war crimes. ”
The international medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres issued a statement on March 15: “In Mugulat in eastern Tigray, Eritrean soldiers continue to use the health facility as their base.” Thus, the presence of Eritrean soldiers in the northern region of Tigray can be asserted with some certainty – despite the government’s denial.
2. Somalia: Where are the missing soldiers?
Unconfirmed reports that Somali soldiers were in Eritrea for military training and sent to fight in Tigray made their first round in January.
Mothers and families protested in Somalia, demanding information about their loved ones. Some families say they have not heard from them for more than a year.
“Some of them have been told that their sons are dead,” one opposition presidential candidate, Abdurahman Abdishakur Warsame, told the Associated Press at the time. “According to the information we receive, the boys were taken to northern Ethiopia after the war.”
Somalia’s Information Minister Osman Abokor Dubbe has denied that Somali soldiers training outside the country were involved in the Tigray conflict. He calls such allegations ‘propaganda’.
“There are no Somali troops being requested by the Ethiopian government to fight for them and fight in Tigray,” he said.
In January, Ethiopia issued a similar statement denying reports that Somali troops were present in Tigray.
Shortly after the rapprochement of Ethiopia and Eritrea, the two countries began working closely with Somalia on various issues. One of their goals was to ‘consolidate peace, stability and security’, according to a statement released by the Eritrean Ministry of Information.
The head of the Somali parliamentary foreign affairs committee, Abdulkadir Osoble Ali, in a letter asked the Somali president to explain how many troops are in Eritrea, when they return, and the location of the missing soldiers.
DW contacted Somali lawmaker Osoble and opposition presidential candidate Abdishakur for more information on their statements. None of them responded to DW’s requests for an interview.
Lists are circulating on social media networks with names of people who allegedly received military training in Eritrea, disappeared or were even killed in Tigray. DW tried to match these names with social media profiles. The Facebook accounts in question could also not be made clear in connection with the Somali army nor in Tigray. However, some of the profiles have not been publicly updated for months or even years.
3. United Arab Emirates: support with drones?
In the early days of the conflict, the Tigrayan side claims that the United Arab Emirates is helping the Ethiopian army with drones sent from an air base in Eritrea.
Wim Zwijnenburg investigated these claims. His work focuses on humanitarian disarmament for the Dutch peace organization PAX – and he is an expert on armed drones. After examining satellite images and crossing other available information, he concludes: “In summary, the allegations of the Tigray forces are not impossible, but so far it seems unlikely.”
In an interview with DW, Zwijnenburg explains that direct evidence is lacking to verify such allegations, such as footage of flying drones, independent eyewitnesses or remnants of weapons. “The only weapon remains found were bombs and missiles fired by aircraft to which the Ethiopian air force had access,” Zwijnenburg told DW.
After its publication, some people sent photos to prove a drone, Zwijnenburg says. ‘But it is easily refuted because […]the weapons used were actually artillery weapons because you could still see the shells on the ground. ”
The Ethiopian army itself is indeed using drones, as Major General Yilma Merdasa, commander of the Ethiopian air force, told state broadcaster ETV in an interview published in November. However, these are commercial drones, not combat drones, as Zwijnenburg explains. Usually it is used for intelligence and surveillance.
What can we deduce?
Allegations that Somali and UAE troops have intervened in Tigray cannot be independently confirmed – and little information is available to confirm the allegations.
However, the presence of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray remains probable.