Sunday, 17 April 2022

Is the humanitarian truce working or is it a military pretext to attack Tigray again?

 On 01/04/2022 Ethiopia and Tigray agreed on a humanitarian truce after week long negotiations under the supervision of  USA, EU and UN. Ethiopia has been not observing the humanitarian truce. It has been refusing to send  humanitarian aid to Tigray giving reason of war in Afar region or in other parts of Ethiopia. The World Food Programme  package usually is dispatched to the port of Djibouti and from there it has to be sent to Tigray.

 Ethiopia has no legal government and Colonel Abiy Ahmed Ali is the self-appointed prime minister. PM Abiy ahmed Ali and his government have been an obstacle, using delaying tactics to deliver  the food, medicine and other needed material provided by  World Food  Programme. Ethiopia thus purposely uses starvation as a weapon of war. The government in  Fin Finne (Addis Ababa) has no political will to deliver food aid to Tigray. Thus other means of delivering food and other needed material to Tigray should be looked in to.

Further negotiations showed Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) were asked as precondition to deliver food to Tigray to leave some Afari villagesand towns which are under control of TDF. Such demands are entirely illegal and wrong as TDF (Tigray Defense Forces) is an Ethiopian organisation and can use any territory in Ethiopia to guarantee safety to Tigray people. Besides TDF are not hostile to Afar  people. They protect their interests and can administer the area until proper government is in place. TDF withdrew tactically from one of the Afar sub-districts to get the food aid delivered  to the people of Tigray. Militarily this does not bring any disadvantage to TDF as they can occupy the area again. However, the humanitarian truce should NOT allow Ethiopia and Eritrea to make troop movements close to Tigray. Otherwise the humanitarian truce is a cover-up for Ethiopia and Eritrea to attack Tigray. UN, USA and EU should have condemned the movements of troops from Ethiopia, Eritrea and Afar to occupy the area left by TDF.

Humanitarian assistance to the people of Tigray should go unhindered. TDF should not be forced to leave any areas it is  controlling. The Government of Tigray and World Food Programme workers  can distribute the food and other material to the people that need the assistance. 

The UN, USA and EU should not allow Ethiopia to take lands or areas that has been under Tigray administration before the current war started. The Raya Region in South Tigray has been part of Tigray. Under EPRDF the boundary between Wello and Tigray has been Ofla. Qobo town has been decided to be under Wello even though it is part of Tigray. Historically the boundary of Tigray  with Wollo is Ale Wuha River. Towns such Woldia, Hayk should be under Tigray. This could be decided in future negotiations with Wollo or  federal government of Ethiopia..

It is imperative that UN, USA and EU should not be party to Amara expansionists and Ethiopia's ethnic cleaning agenda against Tigray. UN, USA and EU should strictly follow  the administrative map of Ethiopia which has been in place since 1991. Ethiopian PM and his team of  Amara advisors are asking TDF to leave Alamata for more aid to be sent to Tigray. This is not humanitarian truce. It is a cover up to take away fertile areas of Tigray. This should be resisted by TDF and UN.



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