Tigray Party Lauds US Visa Restrictions, Demands End to Hostile Actions

Addis Ababa, June 23, 2026 (ENA)__ The visa restrictions imposed by the United States against hardliners of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and their immediate families send an unequivocal message to the group to immediately cease all hostile and destabilizing activities, Tigray Democratic Solidarity Party (Simret) Secretariat Head, Almaz Gebretsadik, said.

During an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), the former senior official in Tigray Interim Administration emphasized that the measure will contribute to make the group reflect and help the comprehensive and unhindered implementation of the Pretoria Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.

She revealed that the extremist group faction has been actively carrying out large-scale forced recruitment targeting the youth with the intent of renewing military conflict.

Youth who refuse to comply are being coerced to join the armed wing, enforcing an unlawfully enacted regional mobilization decree, the Head stated.

Almaz further disclosed that the youth are fleeing the region to escape forced recruitment, migrating in large numbers to Addis Ababa and other safer localities across the country in open defiance of the mobilization campaign.

The Secretariat Head asserted that these anti-peace elements are operating in tandem with hostile foreign forces under a disruptive project termed Tsimdo to systematically weaken Ethiopia.

This unholy alliance between domestic proxies and external actors clearly signals preparations to ignite a fresh round of hostilities, she stressed.

Almaz cautioned that the main objective of Tsimdo is to disrupt Ethiopia's hard-won stability, keeping the country trapped in a continuous cycle of insecurity and domestic distraction.

She observed that the extremist TPLF has increasingly positioned itself as a willing instrument of this chaotic agenda, actively forging alliances with foreign forces to advance these disruptive goals.

Consequently, the Head urged the youth of Tigray to collectively say "enough is enough" to the  hardline leadership that is compromising their future and partnering with external actors to simply prolong its unlawful grip on power.

Concluding her remarks, Almaz called on all alternative political organizations to set aside their differences, consolidate their efforts, and form a unified front to counter and dismantle this destructive trajectory.