Ethiopian Army: “If needed, we can re-enter Tigray in a few weeks” | Eritrea News

A government spokesman said that the federal army left the area in response to threats “from outsiders.”

Ethiopia stated that if needed, its troops can re-enter the Tigray capital Merkel within a few weeks, reiterating that the unilateral ceasefire announced by Addis Ababa earlier this week is aimed at providing “humanitarian relief” to turbulent areas. .

The comments made by Redwan Hussein, spokesperson of the Ethiopian government’s Tigray task force, on Wednesday are the first comments by any official of the Ethiopian federal government since Mekle was occupied by the Tigray army this week.

Before retreating, the Tigray army fought the Ethiopian government and its allies, including troops from neighboring Eritrea and fighters from the Amhara region of Ethiopia, which borders Tigray in the south, and acquired territory for several days.

Because of the conflict, “Ethiopia is vulnerable to outside attacks,” Redwan told reporters, apparently referring to Sudan.

‘No longer a threat’

Lieutenant General Bach de Belle also told reporters that the Ethiopian army left Merkler in response to threats outside the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) insurgents.

“TPLF is no longer a threat, but we have (a) more national threats, and we need to turn our attention to,” Bacha told reporters.

On Tuesday, TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said that the ceasefire statement was a “joke.”

Getaqiu described the ceasefire as a political decision “made for the humanitarian cause”.

“If needed, we can easily enter Meckler, and we can enter in less than three weeks,” he said.

TPLF is a race-based political party that has dominated Ethiopia’s national politics for nearly three years and has been fighting the central government since early November. It has made significant territorial gains in the past week.

The rapid transformation of the war in the past eight months has left people scrambling to understand what is happening in this area of ​​6 million people, because communication links have basically been broken.

Getaqiu told the Associated Press on Wednesday that there will be no negotiations with Ethiopia until communications, transportation and other services that were severed or destroyed in most of the war are restored.

“We must ensure that every inch of our territory is returned to our legitimate owners,” Getachu said, adding that the Ethiopian army is still fighting to retake the territory and that the Eritrean army still controls “important parts” of the area. .

The Tigray spokesperson also issued a warning to Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who has long been an enemy of Tigray’s leaders. He had sent soldiers into Tigray to support the Ethiopian army.

Witnesses accused Eritrean soldiers of committing some of the worst atrocities in the conflict. “We will do our best to ensure that Isaias will never become a threat again,” Getachew said.

Eritrean officials, described by human rights groups as one of the most oppressive countries in the world, did not respond to requests for comment.