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Unable to control Tigray, Ethiopia isolates region already beset by famine and war
Also: Opinion: How can Ethiopia claim to have laid down its arms when it continues to weaponize starvation? (Washington Post Editorial Board)
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Source: Washington Post
Unable to control Tigray, Ethiopia isolates region already beset by famine and war
By Max Bearak
July 2, 2021 at 1:10 p.m. EDT
The Ethiopian government’s inability to sustain its military offensive in the mountainous northern Tigray region was laid bare this week, as rebel forces chased their adversaries out of key cities and were met, as they triumphantly marched in, with jubilation from locals who see them as liberators.
As much as it looked like defeat, it was not, according to top Ethiopian officials, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Instead, they and their allies had vacated the region, and declared a unilateral cease-fire, to allow the beleaguered local population to take advantage of the incoming rainy season to plant crops.
But in the days since the cease-fire, reports from the United Nations and aid groups imply a concerted campaign by government-aligned forces to punish and isolate Tigray, destroying key infrastructure in ways that will complicate the delivery of urgent relief, if not make it impossible, in a region where hundreds of thousands are already estimated to be experiencing war-driven famine.
“A cease fire doesn’t mean cutting a region off power or destroying critical infrastructure,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Friday on Twitter. “A credible cease fire means doing everything possible so that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it.”
Aid groups report that there has been no Internet, phone service or electricity in Tigray since Ethiopian troops retreated and that no food or fuel are being allowed in. Both of the latter are essential — millions are depending on food aid for survival, and hospitals are using fuel-dependent generators to keep the power on.
-snip-
By Max Bearak
July 2, 2021 at 1:10 p.m. EDT
The Ethiopian government’s inability to sustain its military offensive in the mountainous northern Tigray region was laid bare this week, as rebel forces chased their adversaries out of key cities and were met, as they triumphantly marched in, with jubilation from locals who see them as liberators.
As much as it looked like defeat, it was not, according to top Ethiopian officials, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Instead, they and their allies had vacated the region, and declared a unilateral cease-fire, to allow the beleaguered local population to take advantage of the incoming rainy season to plant crops.
But in the days since the cease-fire, reports from the United Nations and aid groups imply a concerted campaign by government-aligned forces to punish and isolate Tigray, destroying key infrastructure in ways that will complicate the delivery of urgent relief, if not make it impossible, in a region where hundreds of thousands are already estimated to be experiencing war-driven famine.
“A cease fire doesn’t mean cutting a region off power or destroying critical infrastructure,” the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Friday on Twitter. “A credible cease fire means doing everything possible so that aid reaches the millions of children, women and men who urgently need it.”
Aid groups report that there has been no Internet, phone service or electricity in Tigray since Ethiopian troops retreated and that no food or fuel are being allowed in. Both of the latter are essential — millions are depending on food aid for survival, and hospitals are using fuel-dependent generators to keep the power on.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/02/ethiopia-tigray-war/
Source: Washington Post
Opinion: How can Ethiopia claim to have laid down its arms when it continues to weaponize starvation?
Opinion by the
Editorial Board
July 2, 2021 at 5:36 p.m. EDT
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where war has led to mass rapes, ethnic cleansing and now famine, access to humanitarian aid will mean the difference between life and death. Yet rather than getting resources to the starving, the country’s government is intensifying what senior U.S. officials are calling a “blockade.”
Ethiopia declared a unilateral cease-fire in Tigray after its troops suffered battlefield reversals. But rather than easing the suffering, the declaration has led to a severe backslide in already strangled access. Bruised after Tigray forces retook their regional capital Monday, Ethiopia’s government has slashed transport: no commercial flights can get in or out, and land routes are blocked. Now, soldiers obliterate inroads, too. The Tekeze bridge, a key supply route into Tigray, was destroyed this week by regional Amhara forces aiding federal soldiers, who looted U.N. and other humanitarian offices during their retreat.
How food might get in now is a dire puzzle of federal design. This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development estimated that a staggering 900,000 Tigrayans are experiencing famine conditions, with millions more on the brink. Meanwhile, aid groups plead for trucks of food and medical supplies to be allowed in instead of being turned around at federal checkpoints maddeningly close to their intended recipients. Those on the ground operate in the dark: Communications and power have been cut. Ethiopia’s decision to freeze banking in the region means Tigrayans of all classes are in danger.
How can a country claim to have laid down its arms when it continues to weaponize starvation?
The regime put forward a humanitarian pretext for the cease-fire, saying it would allow time for the harvest before September. But federal and allied Eritrean forces have brutalized Tigray’s farms — burning fields, stealing seeds, looting tools and slaughtering livestock, according to the United Nations, demolishing Tigray’s capacity to feed itself. And planting season already has passed in most of the region. Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s government has already recanted its pledge to hold off until September, saying its military could reenter Tigray’s capital within weeks.
-snip-
Opinion by the
Editorial Board
July 2, 2021 at 5:36 p.m. EDT
In Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where war has led to mass rapes, ethnic cleansing and now famine, access to humanitarian aid will mean the difference between life and death. Yet rather than getting resources to the starving, the country’s government is intensifying what senior U.S. officials are calling a “blockade.”
Ethiopia declared a unilateral cease-fire in Tigray after its troops suffered battlefield reversals. But rather than easing the suffering, the declaration has led to a severe backslide in already strangled access. Bruised after Tigray forces retook their regional capital Monday, Ethiopia’s government has slashed transport: no commercial flights can get in or out, and land routes are blocked. Now, soldiers obliterate inroads, too. The Tekeze bridge, a key supply route into Tigray, was destroyed this week by regional Amhara forces aiding federal soldiers, who looted U.N. and other humanitarian offices during their retreat.
How food might get in now is a dire puzzle of federal design. This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development estimated that a staggering 900,000 Tigrayans are experiencing famine conditions, with millions more on the brink. Meanwhile, aid groups plead for trucks of food and medical supplies to be allowed in instead of being turned around at federal checkpoints maddeningly close to their intended recipients. Those on the ground operate in the dark: Communications and power have been cut. Ethiopia’s decision to freeze banking in the region means Tigrayans of all classes are in danger.
How can a country claim to have laid down its arms when it continues to weaponize starvation?
The regime put forward a humanitarian pretext for the cease-fire, saying it would allow time for the harvest before September. But federal and allied Eritrean forces have brutalized Tigray’s farms — burning fields, stealing seeds, looting tools and slaughtering livestock, according to the United Nations, demolishing Tigray’s capacity to feed itself. And planting season already has passed in most of the region. Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s government has already recanted its pledge to hold off until September, saying its military could reenter Tigray’s capital within weeks.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/02/ethiopia-tigray-cease-fire-starvation/
