International Community Urged to Stop TPLF Provocations, Beating of War Drums

Addis Ababa May 27/2022/ENA/ The international community needs to denounce and urge TPLF to stop its provocations, beating war drums, and respect the humanitarian truce extended by the Government of Ethiopia, a press release issued by the Ethiopian Embassy in London said.

According to the statement, “there are clear indications that as in June 2021, the TPLF is going to wage a third round of war during the upcoming peak farming season.”

The TPLF is mobilizing the youth for yet another round of destructive war. Sadly, to the opposition of families, forced conscription has become a fact of everyone’s life in Tigray Region, the embassy revealed.

In preparation for the war the TPLF has on the pipeline, children are being recruited forcefully in contravention of international law.

“There are clear indications that as in June 2021, the TPLF, disregarding peace initiatives, is going to wage a third round of war during the upcoming peak farming season, which will extremely affect agricultural activities and further exacerbate the humanitarian crisis across the Tigray Region as well as adjacent areas of the Amhara and Afar regions,” the press release elaborated.

Contrary to this, the Government of Ethiopia had declared an indefinite humanitarian truce on March 24, 2022, in a bid to facilitate the delivery of much-needed humanitarian assistance in the  region.

Apart from the delivery of aid to the region, the government has taken several other confidence-building initiatives to resolve the conflict in the country. It had, for instance, released senior members of the TPLF who had been imprisoned following the law enforcement operation in the Tigray Region and lifted the state of emergency proclamation, it further noted.

This was followed by the launching of the National Dialogue Commission, an all-inclusive national platform established with a view to resolving political differences through civil deliberations. It is hoped that the process will enable actors to discuss fundamental national issues openly and ensure national consensus in the nation.

All these actions have demonstrated the government’s commitment to peace and its readiness to resolve the conflict in a sustainable way, the statement said.

However, the embassy noted that “TPLF has constantly failed to reciprocate these positive gestures. It has continued obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance, diverting the aid to its militants, and disseminating a make-believe story, claiming that it withdrew from Afar Region.”

The fact on the ground remains that the TPLF has withdrawn its forces only from two Woredas in the Afar Region, barring a few towns, which are still under its control. It has also continued its occupation of some towns in the Amhara region.

Notwithstanding the federal government’s commitment to peace, the TPLF is still beating the drums of war in its media outlets.

The embassy stressed that the international community needs to therefore denounce and urge TPLF to stop its provocations and respect the humanitarian truce extended by the Government of Ethiopia.