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- Ethiopia’s government has announced that its forces will not advance deeper into the Tigray region and were ordered to maintain the areas they have won back from the Tigray People’s Liberation Force.
- The Ethiopian federal army and its allies have made strong advances in recent weeks. They have recaptured major towns and cities in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions that Tigray fighters had seized earlier this year
- The Tigray forces have been forced to retreat back to their home region
Ethiopia’s government has announced that its forces will not advance deeper into the Tigray region and were ordered to maintain the areas they have won back from the Tigray People’s Liberation Force.
The Ethiopian federal army and its allies have made strong advances in recent weeks. They have recaptured major towns and cities in the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions that Tigray fighters had seized earlier this year. The Tigray forces have been forced to retreat back to their home region.
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s announcement that its soldiers will not pursue the Tigray forces into their home region. Many feel that this could be an opening that will encourage a cease-fire and negotiations to resolve the conflict. Earlier this week, the leader of the Tigray forces, Debretsion Gebremichae said its fighters have been ordered to withdraw back to Tigray. In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Debretsion proposed an immediate cease-fire to be followed by negotiations. The establishment of a no-fly zone over Tigray to prevent air attacks over the region and the imposition of an international arms embargo on Ethiopia and Eritrea are the major proposals in the letter.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the Tigray conflict that erupted in November 2020 between Ethiopian forces and fighters from the country’s Tigray region. As a result of a months-long government blockade, some of Tigray’s 6 million people have begun starving to death. according to aid groups.
Last month, the Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency as Tigray fighters moved closer to the capital, Addis Ababa, and carried out a number of abuses against ethnic Amhara. Since then, the Ethiopian government’s military appears to have been strengthened by aerial drones purchased from China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
