Forced Conscription, Abductions Signal Total Loss of Acceptance for Illegal TPLF Faction: Media Professionals

Addis Ababa, July 8, 2026 — The forced conscription and abduction campaigns orchestrated by the illegal TPLF faction signal a total collapse of acceptance for the group, media professionals remarked.

Journalists disclosed that forced roundups and kidnappings targeting civilians continue to escalate across the Tigray region, driven by personal gains seeking to secure narrow personal interests and agendas.

The practice has met with stiff public resistance, proving that the regional community has completely withdrawn any lingering support for these actors, they added.

Among those who shared their views with ENA, Awramba Times journalist Dawit Kebede explained that the individuals executing these operations are deeply entangled in lucrative personal interests linked to the gold and mineral trade.

To safeguard these economic benefits, they are using the pretext of facilitating the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a political smokescreen, Dawit noted.

"I do not believe they care about the public for even a split second," Dawit asserted, adding that their current maneuvers have been roundly rejected by the community.

Consequent to this loss of popular legitimacy, they have resorted to violence, aggressively rounding up youth and forcing them into training camps.

The journalist further detailed that the situation has deteriorated to the point where public transport buses are being intercepted to pull young people off the streets, describing the trend as profoundly tragic.

Similarly, journalist Hermon Fekadu strongly condemned the ongoing operations being carried out by extremist TPLF leaders and destructive elements.

In this day and age, abducting and conscripting citizens by force to fulfill the propaganda desires  is utterly unacceptable and constitutes a highly deplorable act, she noted.

Underscoring the gravity of the abuse, Hermon remarked that it defies reason to fathom what objective could possibly justify kidnapping human beings, calling the practice a primitive mindset and a severe crime.

The Public Relations Head of the Tinsae Seb'a Enderta Party, Abraham Tsige, stated that the group has failed to learn from its past blunders. He noted that because the public has firmly declared "enough is enough" and refused to be dragged into another disaster, the faction’s political relevance has entirely expired.

Abraham pointed out that the current reliance on coercive tactics is a direct symptom of their total alienation from the population, proving that the public has completely disowned them.

The official concluded that while the faction had long been losing its grip on the people of Tigray, the current crisis marks the final and absolute demise of their acceptance within the region.