By Teshome Borago
November 3, 2020
After the Ethiopian government accused TPLF of supporting rebels who massacred civilians in western Oromia, several Tigrayan officials escalated words, threatening to “bring down” the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Reports early Tuesday confirmed a coordinated attack on federal army structures in and around Mekelle by TPLF special forces. After further escalation by a special police (liyu police) of TPLF, the Prime Minister announced that his government’s “patience has run thin” on Facebook late Tuesday night.
He condemned TPLF’s attack on the same Ethiopian command post that “previously protected Tigray people against enemies,” he added, in reference to the Ethiopia-Eritrea war.
“The TPLF has opened a war front but military action was a last resort, in order to protect the people of Tigray” Abiy added. But now, the military has received orders to defend themselves and “protect” the country, he concluded.
Analysts did not anticipate the reckless decision by TPLF on Tuesday, since the Abiy government had no intentions to take military action, instead he preferred economic and travel sanctions directed at the TPLF leadership.
However, this is not the first time the TPLF has taken action to put civilians in harms way, as it has a history of using Tigrayans as human shield.
Internet connection is now disrupted in the region and unconfirmed reports say federal reinforcement have flew north to Tigray
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It is a very sad day for me. I thought I will never live to see another war of utter destruction. The news I am getting from my merchant relatives is that there were casualties on both sides. In fact the one who told me lives in Addis/Finfine got his information from merachants like him who spoke to other merchants in the area. May be I should bury my head in the sand and then see nothing and hear nothing. This is just too much.
Unsurprisingly, the desperate gang in Mekele has taken desperate measure against the defense force. This desperation is reminiscent of the last days of the evil Khmer Rouge in Cambodia who retreated to their base and continued to destabilize the country. However, their demise had to come swiftly and the movement was wiped out of the face of the earth and its leaders were served justice that they denied the Cambodian people.
Everything the TPLF stands for is as destructive as that of Khmer Rouge. So will its fate be.
The federal government exhausted every means to patiently pursue peace. But the peace- hating and power-hungry gangs seem to choose a different path at the expense of the people of Tigray. Now this attack on our defense force is the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
The gangs have been day dreaming for some time now to throw Ethiopia in chaos in order that they may make a come back and rule the nation with a half a century old gang mentality. That won’t happen. They silenced the people of Tigray by arresting, torturing and killing them. But that will come to an end soon and very soon. It would be the people of Tigray who are going to drag the gangs out of their hideout. TPLF scare mongering propaganda is but an outdated tactic that the people of Tigray no longer buy into.
Things are moving rapidly and the blessing in disguise is about to reveal itself.
Ethiopia should order the Army at the border to go to enter Eritrea and get to their designated base in Ethiopia with all the heavy equipment through the port of Assab. I am sure Eritrea would allow this. The last thing you want is an army located in the midst of your enemy territory.
The TPLF ex-EPRDF dictatorship/junta transferred itself to Mekele to protect its owns members from the rest of Ethiopia. The present leadership in Mekele has a paranoid siege mentality. To some extent the Tigrayan political leadership are right to say they are being targeted; nevertheless they are not eager to admit their part in all the atrocities their cronies and membership committed in dismantling the Abyssinian state into a series of regional fiefdoms. Most of the mess has to sadly be blamed on Meles Zenawi. Like Mugabe Meles started well and ended up as a bad egg; an intolerant tyrant of any form of criticism or suggestion of reform. Now Doctor Aby is picking up the pieces of Meles’s mess. But it won’t be as easy to mop of twenty five years + of pseudo-marxist jingoistic subnationalism. Ethiopia is indeed tottering on the brink as the Feranjies say. Finally Aby does seem weak and ineffective. Perhaps the only real solution is a military coup.
Dawit Meder
Patience doesn’t mean weakness. Dr. Abiy could have turned himself into a dictator as it is often the case in Africa had he not been wise and very diplomatic. Unfortunately, it takes two to tango and the gang in Mekele are not the kind of people with whom one can engage in a reasoned and seasoned argument.
Whatever the doom and gloom the ‘Ferenjies’ say, the current situation won’t be as bad as you would love to portray it. I am incurably convinced that the TPLF gangs have already fallen in the hands of the people of Tigrai who do not want another Hawzen style massacre to be committed against them this time around. Our brothers in Tigrai very well know that TPLF is expert in false flag attacks against its own people. Besides, within the ranks of its own Liyu Force, there appears to be discontent and crack as much as there is conflict among the gang itself which came as a result of paranoia and insatiable lust for power. It won’t be that long when we will be hearing the gang will be bringing each other’s neck to the knife in the process. Its not something new for the TPLF gangs to liquidate each other or to chicken out when the chips are down. This kind of inevitable scenario is, often times, preceded by a cowardly act the likes of which the gang has just committed against our defense force.
Have faith in the power of wisdom and of patience not a military coup which is the ultimate desire of the Mekele gang from the outset.
If Eritrea is allowed to remain as sovereign country then Tigray or Oromia should be allowed to become a sovereign country whenever we want by holding a referendum to become independent.
The ethnic Oromo or any other ethnic people of Ethiopia should not be forced to fight a civil war inorder to get independent from Ethiopia. Learning from the decades of war fought between EPLF and Ethiopia we should know that civil war will not stop the Tigray people’s demand for independence from becoming a reality. All civil war does in such situations is prolong the misery of the Ethiopian people.