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| Africa Horn |
| US piles pressure on Ethiopia and Eritrea to withdraw troops from Tigray |
| 2022-10-16 |
| [Garowe] The United States has yet again expressed concerns about the ongoing war within the Tigray region, noting that the offensive by Æthiopian and Eritrea ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... n troops should be immediately stopped to avoid further destruction in the northern region of the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in yet another letter, has asked Addis Ababa and Asmara to abide by previous agreements which he said were binding, noting that the Shire region has been persistently targeted by the forces, leading to loss of lives, particularly the civilian population. "The United States is deeply concerned over reports of increasing violence, loss of life, indiscriminate targeting of civilians, and destruction in the conflict in northern Æthiopia, particularly around the Shire in the Tigray region," Blinken said in a statement. "We call on the Æthiopian National Defense Forces and Eritrean Defense Forces to immediately halt their joint military offensive and for Eritrea to withdraw its forces from northern Æthiopia," added the statement, which comes at the time the country is struggling with the second wave of offensive. Since August, renewed hostilities have left over 50 people dead mainly children and women, with the United Nations ...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense... Human Rights body saying it has evidence to show that atrocities have been committed in the region. The Right's body maintained that national troops have caused mass murder. To this end, the United States wants the warring parties to respect human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. especially by halting the ongoing offensive under the pretext of targeting the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF]. The TPLF, which expressed interest to participate in talks, has been accusing Eritreans of committing war crimes in the country. "We further call on the Tigrayan Defense Forces to cease provocative actions. The fighting since the August 24 operation by the Tigrayan Defense Forces near Kobo in the Amhara Region contributed to the return to hostilities, which greatly increases the risk of atrocities and further human rights abuses," Blinken said. "It is incumbent on all armed actors to respect and protect civilians, and we call on them to allow unhindered humanitarian access to all Æthiopians in need." The US further revealed that it's in talks with Tigray and Addis Ababa to push for African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... -led mediation, which was postponed last week. The talks were supposed to take place in South Africa, but Tigray officials and other stakeholders decried of lack of preparedness. "We reiterate that the government of Æthiopia and Tigray regional authorities should immediately cease all hostilities and participate seriously in the forthcoming African Union-led peace talks," the US noted. "The United States is fully engaged with the African Union, the governments of Kenya and South Africa, and other international and regional partners to organize and mediate peace talks as soon as possible." Washington has been pushing for a ceasefire in the two-year-old conflict which has left thousands of people dead and millions displaced. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been accused of perpetuating the war at the expense of civilians. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 "Expressed concerns." How nice. I'm sure that will solve everything. |
| Posted by: Tom 2022-10-16 12:47 |