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November 26,2016
Audio credit : VOA Amharic
Audio above is a portion of VOA’s report on the fighting in Gonder. A resident in Gonder anonymously confirmed that there was indeed a fighting in Northern Gonder where rebel commander, Mesafint Tigabu, committed suicide after he was encircled by the regime forces.
Amhara regional state spokesperson, Nigussue Tilahun, denied that he does not have any information regarding fighting in Gonder.
Statement from from the ruling party in Ethiopia claimed that it captured Arbegnoch Ginbot 7 forces while they were attempting to sneak to Ethiopia from Eritrea via “west Tigray.” From the statement by the government, no defense force was involved and the operation was led by militia and people in west Tigray.
Credible sources,however, say that there has been military presence in the region for a long time now close to the Eritrean border.In terms of figure, it says a total of 113 armed rebel forces entered Ethiopia and 15 were killed while 73 are taken captives.
Regime in Ethiopia, so to speak, has reputation for lies and deception. One clear discrepancy in the report is regarding the death of army commander, Mesafint Tigabu, who was a member of the ruling party before he deserted the regime when he went abroad to study military science. It’s version of the narrative says that he was killed. On the other hand, an account from sources like ESAT suggests that Mesafint Tigabu committed suicide rather than surrender.
Without doubt, the regime would have liked to capture the commander alive rather than killing him. It seems unlikely that the rebel commander was killed by regime forces.
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