Tag Archives: Tigray

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on an Africa visit also met representatives from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed with officials in Ethiopia a dispute with downstream Egypt over Ethiopia’s completion of Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam. Egypt and Sudan have been in talks …

African Union-mediated talks have started in South Africa between delegations from the Ethiopian government and Tigray rebel forces in an attempt to establish peace after two years of war in that country. Thousands have died with millions displaced during the conflict – as the Ethiopia’s worst drought in 40 years …

The African Union said on Friday that peace talks it is leading that is aimed at ending the conflict in Ethiopia would start on Oct. 24 in South Africa. The Ethiopian government and its allies, which include Eritrea’s military, have been fighting Tigray forces in the north of the country …

Authorities in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region have arrested four employees of a US-based online media outlet, while the whereabouts of two others was unclear, the outlet said on Sunday, in the latest round of arrests involving media. The arrests would add to those of five journalists in another Amhara media …

Rebellious Tigrayan forces are completely withdrawing from the neighboring region of Afar in Ethiopia, a spokesman said on Monday, saying he hoped it meant that desperately needed food aid could finally pour into famine-hit Tigray. “Our forces have left all of Afar,” Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigray People’s …

Tigrayan forces fighting the central government have withdrawn from neighboring regions in Ethiopia’s north, a Tigrayan spokesman said on Monday, a step towards a possible ceasefire after major territorial gains by the Ethiopian military. The 13-month-old war in Africa’s second-most populous nation has destabilized an already fragile region, sent 60,000 …

Tigrayan forces have recaptured the town of Lalibela in Ethiopia, less than two weeks after government forces and their allies took control, witnesses told Reuters on Sunday. Lalibela is a town in the Amhara region and a United Nations World Heritage site. Government spokesperson Legesse Tulu did not respond to …

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday urged Tigrayan rebels to surrender, claiming government forces were nearing victory just one week after he vowed to lead military operations at the front. “The youth of Tigray is perishing like leaves. Knowing it is defeated, it is being led by one who …

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is on the frontline with the army fighting rebellious Tigrayan forces in the northeastern Afar region, state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting reported on Friday. Abiy was wearing military fatigues and speaking to the television station in the Afaan Oromo and Amharic languages, according to the broadcast. Reuters …

Ethiopia’s government has asked the United States to stop spreading falsehoods against the country, the state minister of communication Kebede Dessisa said on Thursday, after the State Department issued an alert about potential “terrorist attacks.” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and rebellious forces from the Tigray region in the north …

Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister has gone to the front lines, his government announced Wednesday, after the leader said sacrificing oneself might be necessary for the yearlong war with rival fighters approaching the capital. State media showed no images of Abiy Ahmed, a 45-year-old former soldier, and his spokesperson …

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on the Eritrean military and other individuals and entities as Washington steps up pressure on parties to the conflict to bring an end to fighting in northern Ethiopia. In a statement, the US Treasury Department said it blacklisted Eritrea’s ruling political party the …

Rebellious Tigrayan forces threatened on Friday to “hunt down” foreigners they said were supporting the Ethiopian government as mercenaries and technical experts in a year-long war. Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) spokesperson Getatchew Reda said the foreigners could be from Turkey, China, Israel, or the United Arab Emirates, without offering …

Ethiopian staff working for the United Nations or African Union do not live “in space” and will be punished for any lawbreaking, the government said on Thursday, after the arrest of several U.N. employees for unspecified offences. Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on Nov. 2 after rebellious forces from …

Ethiopian authorities have detained more than 70 drivers working with the United Nations, a U.N. spokesperson said, amid international alarm over reported widespread arrests of ethnic Tigrayans as the war in the country’s north escalates. The ethnicity of the 72 drivers was not clear. The U.N. spokesperson said the drivers …

More than a dozen Ethiopian staffers working for the United Nations have been arrested in Addis Ababa in raids targeting ethnic Tigrayans under a state of emergency, UN and humanitarian sources told AFP Tuesday. “Some of them were taken from their homes,” one of the sources said, while a UN …

Tigray forces fighting Ethiopia’s government on Sunday played down reports that they would face a hostile population or cause a “bloodbath” if they advanced into the capital city. Several countries have urged their nationals to leave Ethiopia and the US has withdrawn diplomats as the year-long conflict in the north …

The United States said Saturday it has ordered the departure of its non-essential diplomats from Ethiopia, as the war between Tigray rebels and government forces intensifies. “The Department of State ordered the departure of non-emergency US government employees and their family members from Ethiopia” on Friday, the State Department said …

The top US envoy for the Horn of Africa is heading to Ethiopia later this week as Washington and the international community look on with concern over the deteriorating situation. “United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman will travel to Ethiopia November 4 and 5,” a …

Ethiopia declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after forces from the northern region of Tigray said they were gaining territory and considering marching on the capital Addis Ababa. The announcement on state-affiliated media came two days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed urged citizens to take up arms to defend …