Senior Tigray leaders break out of detention near the Eritrean border after refusing TPLF plans to dissolve the interim administration
By Staff Writer
(Nairobi, Kenya) — Former Vice President of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration Lt. Gen. Tadesse Werede and three other senior former administration officials—Colonel Tewelde Gebretinsae, Colonel Alemsged Gebreegziabher, and Isaias Tadesse—have returned to Mekelle after being freed from TPLF custody near the Eritrean border and surrendering to Ethiopian federal forces.
The four officials, who were taken from their residences in Mekelle by armed guards prior to the resumption of military operations in northern Ethiopia, were initially held under guard in a local hotel without access to family or legal counsel. Following the outbreak of hostilities, they were forcibly relocated to several transit locations, including Aksum and Adwa, where they were separated under strict security.
Speaking on the conditions of their detention, Colonel Tewelde Gebretinsae, former head of military intelligence for Tigray forces, confirmed that their arrest stemmed from fundamental political disagreements with senior TPLF leadership. According to Colonel Tewelde, the officials opposed TPLF proposals to dissolve the Tigray Interim Administration and retake regional executive power through force, arguing that such actions violated the Pretoria Peace Agreement and would plunge the region into another destructive conflict.
Diplomatic and local efforts to secure their release during their transfer across northern Tigray proved unsuccessful. The former officials were eventually relocated to Rama, a border town situated near Eritrea, where they were kept under heightened surveillance for five days.
Colonel Tewelde stated that after learning of plans by their captors to secretly transfer them across the border into Eritrea, the four officials coordinated an escape operation. Despite high security risks, the group successfully broke out of custody, navigated through surrounding areas, and reached positions held by the Ethiopian National Defense Force and the Tigray Peace Force, who facilitated their safe return to Mekelle.
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What a relief for their loved ones! I was extremely worried about them too. Praise The Lord!!!!
And I want to see a well produced and acted movie made about their detention and daring escape just like Steve McQueen in the Great Escape.