(AGN) – One of the strongest armies in Africa was trounced this week by a rebel movement in the Tigray region whose people greeted the returning fighters with cheering, weeping with relief and chanting “Victory is ours!”
Eight months ago, the government of Ethiopia mounted an offensive in the Tigray region, creating what is now one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises in the country’s northern region. More than 1.7 million people have been displaced and as many as 900,000 are suffering from hunger, according to U.S. officials.
But on Monday, Ethiopian troops were on their back foot, routed by the rebel army and paraded through the Tigrayan regional capital in a stunning reversal. Observers reported seeing the Ethiopian soldiers with bowed heads and eyes cast downward, some wounded, some on stretchers.
Tigrayan officials are reportedly in touch with the International Committee of the Red Cross and plan to release the low-ranking soldiers but will keep officers in custody.
The regime of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has claimed it withdrew its forces voluntarily for humanitarian reasons but the military had been losing ground in recent days to the Tigrayans, according to local analysts, that now call themselves the Tigray Defense Forces.
Getachew Reda, a spokesman for the Tigrayan leadership, accused the Ethiopian troops, on their retreat, of robbing banks, looting and cutting off electricity and telecommunications. He said that Tigrayan leaders would consider a cease-fire and negotiate with Mr. Abiy’s government only if services were restored and Tigrayan territory returned.
“You cannot cut off electricity and services and expect to make peace,” he said. “You cannot expect to make peace while you are robbing our banks,” he was quoted to say.
Meanwhile, at the center of the rebellion against the Ethiopian government was a former army general, Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, regarded by international security analysts as one of the finest military strategists of his generation.
By 2021 he was able to turn barefoot young fighters into a serious fighting force that achieved parity with its adversaries. In June, they routed eight divisions of the Ethiopian army and achieved an astounding military victory against the well-trained Ethiopian army, dealing their forces a heavy setback that few expected.
According to The Economist magazine, their victory may reshape Ethiopia – and the region. w/pix of T. Gebretensae
By Lisa Vives / GIN
