Tigray forces consolidate control of Mekelle as Ethiopian army retreats

Gonar — Tigrayan forces said they had Ethiopian government troops on the run around the regional capital Mekelle on Tuesday after taking full control of the city in a sharp reversal of eight months of conflict.

People in Mekelle, where communications were cut on Monday, said the Tigrayan fighters were greeted with cheers. Video footage from the northern town of Shire showing a resident saying the government-allied Eritrean forces had pulled out showed similar scenes.

“We are 100% in control of Mekelle,” Getachew Reda, spokesperson for the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), said on Tuesday.

There had been some fighting on the outskirts of the city, but that was now finished, he said, adding that he could not confirm the report from Shire.

“Our forces are still in hot pursuit to south, east, to continue until every square inch of territory is cleared from the enemy,” he said.

Aid agencies would be given full access to Tigray, he added. The fighting in Ethiopia’s northern region has killed thousands of people, displaced 2-million and brought hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.

Ethiopia’s government declared a unilateral ceasefire late on Monday and UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said he hoped a political solution could be found. Diplomats said the UN Security Council would meet to discuss Tigray this week.

It was not clear if the unilateral ceasefire would be observed by other parties to the conflict. The Ethiopian military spokesperson, Eritrean information minister and Amahara regional spokesperson all said they were unable to comment.

Over the next few days, TPLF forces will go after troops allied to the government from the neighbouring Amhara region — in the south and west— and from the neighbouring nation of Eritrea in the north and northwest of Tigray, the spokesperson said, adding they would cross borders in pursuit if necessary.

Reuters could not independently verify his statement because almost all phone links to Tigray are down. But on Monday evening when it was still possible to call the Mekelle, residents said soldiers had disappeared from the streets and TPLF forces had entered the city. Residents greeted them with flags and songs, witnesses said.

A spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the head of a government task force on Tigray did not return messages seeking comment.

On Tuesday, residents said Eritrean forces could no longer be seen in Shire, a large town at the junction of several main roads.

“There’s not a single Eritrean in town,” one resident of Shire said. He sent a short video of residents crowded onto vehicles, beeping wildly and waving a large gold and red Tigray flag.

Another resident in Shire said “overnight there was a huge movement of Eritrean troops from Axum, Shire to Sheraro direction”. Sheraro is close to the Eritrean border.

Famine and rights abuses

Ethiopia is awaiting results of national and regional parliamentary elections held on June 21. Voting was held only in three of the nation’s 10 regions due to insecurity and logistical problems.

No voting was held in Tigray where the TPLF, an ethnically based political party that dominated Ethiopia’s national politics for nearly three decades, has been battling the central government since early November. It made major territorial gains in the past week.

The fighting has been punctuated by reports of brutal gang-rapes and mass killings of civilians. At least 12 aid workers have been killed.

At least 350,000 people are facing famine and 5-million others need immediate food aid, the UN has said — the worst global food crisis in a decade. The UN says government forces and their allies have repeatedly blocked aid convoys in Tigray and nearly 1-million people have been cut off from aid since the convoy began.

Last week, an Ethiopian military air strike on a crowded market killed at least 64 people and wounded 180 other people. Doctors said women and children were among the dead and wounded and that Ethiopian troops prevented ambulances from reaching the scene for more than a day.  The military said the victims were combatants.

Reuters