Revealing the death of a blind man

The injury-stricken life, and now death, of Asmelash Woldeselassie highlights the brutality and cyclical nature of conflicts in the mountainous Tigray region of Ethiopia.

After joining the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in 1975, he lost his sight when he was bombed during the war in his hiding place in the Imba Alaje mountain, which ends with the guerrilla movement in the capital Addis of Ethiopia, Addis. Ababa, to seize the power of the infamous Mengistu Haile Mariam regime in 1991.

In 1998, when the TPLF-led government found itself in the middle of a border war with Eritrea, Asmelash lost his left arm in an air strike on the capital Mekelle.

In the latest conflict with which the TPLF is once again a guerrilla movement, Asmelash – who was a member of his executive – was killed along with two other veterans of the TPLF – the former foreign minister, Seyoum Mesfin and the former minister of federal affairs, Abay Tsehaye.

The 44-year-old Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, of Ethiopia – who ordered the military operation that eventually led to their deaths – was a junior member of the TPLF-led coalition government until he came to power in 2018.

Now, he and the TPLF are enemies fighting for control of Tigray, a strategically important region bordering Sudan and Eritrea, the gateway to the Red Sea shipping routes.

Isaias Afwerki, president of Eritrea, allegedly sent troops to Tigray to bolster the Ethiopian army’s operations and, according to some, to avenge its humiliation by the TPLF during the 1998 to 2000 border war, which killed up to 100,000 people has.

Both governments deny that Eritrean troops are in Tigray, despite many Tigrays, Eritreans and the US government saying they are there.

Mr. Abiy declared victory over the TPLF after capturing the local capital, Mekelle, on November 28, but promised that efforts to capture the TPLF “clique” – which would have an estimated 250,000 fighters under his command – would continue.

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Handcuffed and confused

How Asmelah, Seyoum and Abay – all over 60 – died is unclear: some claim to have been shot dead in cold blood, but the official Ethiopian version is that they were killed in a cave area after refusing to surrender.

Their deaths came in addition to the capture of several other TPLF stalwarts – including Sebhat Nega, who was paraded in shackles in front of the cameras and looked confused, in a scene reminiscent of the capture of Iraq’s former ruler Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Faisal Roble of the American Institute for Horn of African Studies and Affairs, said that supporters of Mr. Abiy celebrates the fate of the men who belonged to an organization that ruled Ethiopia with an iron fist until massive protests forced it to relinquish power to Mr Abiy almost three years ago.

“They say, ‘We have the TPLF. We are destroying it. They will never be able to oppress us again.’

‘But Tigrayane – also those who never liked the TPLF – says:’ You killed Asmelash, a blind man, Seyoum, who had back surgery and struggled to walk, Abay, who had heart surgery and you humbled Sebath, who can walk two steps up. These are our heroes. ”

Exiled Eritrean human rights campaigner Paulos Tesfagiorgis said there was no doubt that the TPLF suffered major setbacks almost three months after the conflict after being hit by drone strikes and the massive deployment of Ethiopian and Eritrean troops, as well as forces from the Amhara region of Ethiopia. , which has its own land dispute with Tigray under the country’s federal system.

“The TPLF has lost a lot of ground, a lot of leaders, a lot of fighters and a lot of heavy weapons. It now only has medium and light weapons. I don’t think it expected Eritrea to get involved to that extent.

“Isaias pursued his old strategy of overpowering the enemy with troops, tanks, armaments and bombings,” he said. Paulos said, adding: “But the TPLF is not finished yet. He has fought intense battles. Now it has returned to the famous land, the rural areas of Tigray, its mountains and hills, to wage a guerrilla war. ‘

Menychle Meseret, an academic at the University of Gondar in Ethiopia, said the TPLF’s move to guerrilla warfare, after waging a “full-scale” conflict against the Ethiopian army, poses its own dangers.

“In rebel groups, even one suicide bomber can cause many deaths. In the case of the TPLF, there are still remaining fighters. There are reports of fighting in some mountainous areas and that the TPLF has already carried out ambushes on roads. – even on an aid convoy . ‘

Famine warnings

Paulos said he believes the government is using famine as a weapon of war.

“Government soldiers burned the crops of Tigrayans; the offensive took place during the harvest season and slaughtered their livestock. This happened while the government imposed a total blockade on Tigray. No food was coming in. Even now the current is help very limited.

“People are already starving. There are warnings about famine. It is a war waged without compassion. It reminds me of Mengistu’s quote: ‘Killing the fish drains the dam’.” “To weaken the TPLF, the Abiy government must subjugate the civilians, among other things, to starve them,” Mr Paulos said.

Aid agencies reported that the conflict – which took place amid the coronavirus pandemic and a locust infestation of tumors – caused a “serious” situation:

• More than two million people need help

• Mass relocations have raised fears of a ‘massive’ transfer of Covid-19

• Only five of the 40 hospitals are accessible

• About 300 motorized water sources are dysfunctional

• Local markets are collapsing

An official in the newly appointed government in Tigray quoted local media as saying that the crisis in the region was ‘unprecedented in its history’. He put the number of people in need of emergency aid at 4.5 million (up to 75% of the population), the number of displaced people at 2.5 million and said his office had received reports that 13 people – including three children – were starving. died.

The government denied using hunger as a weapon of war, and Mr Menychle said such allegations were “completely wrong”.

‘The government has enough food supplies but cannot deliver them to the countryside because the TPLF is killing drivers. The TPLF wants to orchestrate hunger as a weapon to manipulate global opinion and gain sympathy for the cause.

“The TPLF gave guns to farmers and forced some of them to fight. Therefore, crops were eventually destroyed. The TPLF also controlled the government’s administration in all towns. It destroyed offices – even hospitals – before leaving towns, “Mr. Menychle said.

The state-run Human Rights Commission said residents of the Humera Agricultural Center in western Tigray reported widespread looting of homes and businesses by an ethnic Amhara youth group, militias, special forces, as well as some Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers.

“Plunderers also emptied the storage of food and grain,” he said, adding that a resident had complained that even people sent by the newly appointed government to help them “participate in theft”.

More about the Tigray crisis:

William Davison, an Ethiopian analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the federal government provided assistance in areas where its troops, or Amhara security forces, were firmly in control.

But this did not happen in areas where the Tigraian forces were still a major threat, as the government did not want them to seize resources or find ways to smuggle in fuel or weapons.

‘Large parts of rural Tigray have not received any assistance because there is not enough federal control or too much uncertainty.

“Aid is going to Mekelle, the regional capital and some parts of the south or west, as federal or Amhara forces are in control in these places,” he said.

‘Eritrean troops in the holy city’

Mr Davison added that it was also logistically and politically difficult to provide assistance in areas under the control of Eritrean troops, as there was still no recognition by the Ethiopian or Eritrean leadership that the latter’s forces were part of the Tigray conflict.

Local people told the BBC that Eritrean forces were in important cities and towns, including Aksum, the holiest site for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, and Wukro, just about 45 km from Mekelle.

They withdrew from Shire, the birthplace of Tigray’s ousted President Debretsion Gebremichael, after helping Ethiopian troops control it, but they still had a strong presence in surrounding villages, residents said.

Sudan’s key role

Martin Plaut, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, said the control of territory is not an indication of who wins it.

“The TPLF does not believe in keeping cities and towns. He fights off the hills and mountains. This makes the enemy sit down.

“It then carries out hit-and-run attacks. It wears out the enemy over months and years. That’s what it did in the previous guerrilla war. Whether it can wage an effective guerrilla war again depends on “It can secure the supply routes for ammunition, fuel and food,” said Plaut.

The last time the TPLF got its supplies through Sudan. Whether the Sudanese agree to do it again – amid a border dispute with Ethiopia that led to clashes between their forces – was the big question, Mr. Plaut said.

“It will probably determine whether it is a long or a short war.”