Police ask Tigray residents to help restore order

Ethiopian federal police yesterday fanned out across the regional capital of Tigray after anti-government forces pulled out, driving in vehicles and calling on residents over loudspeakers to help establish a new administration following the rebels’ withdrawal.

Over the last weekend, government-allied fighters had entered Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) announced its withdrawal.

The TPLF had joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance seeking to oust Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Fighting escalated late last month, undermining the 2022 peace deal. The rebels seized the Mekelle airport and the city, one of Ethiopia’s largest.

Members of the Ethiopian Federal Police patrol in Tigray Region’s Mekelle in Ethiopia on Thursday.

Photo obtained by Reuters

Then on Saturday last week, the rebels said their forces had pulled out — similar to what they did in the previous two-year war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022, apparently to spare the city from destruction.

Still, local government offices remained shut yesterday in Mekelle as the city awaited new authorities, with police and the government-allied Tigray Peace Force in charge of security. Members of the city’s new civilian administration had arrived with federal police on Thursday, but said they were awaiting instructions.

The Tigray Peace Force imposed an overnight curfew on Wednesday.

No administration had taken office in Mekelle by yesterday morning.

Tigray’s TV and radio stations have been off the air since the TPLF withdrawal.

Ahmed’s government promised to restore banking, electricity, telecommunications and water services, but gave no timetable. It also outlined plans to register people involved in the conflict and help them return to civilian life.

Further north, a government-allied commander and a conflict monitoring group have separately reported Eritrean troops entering Ethiopia, raising fears of a wider conflict.

Eritrean personnel entered Adigrat on Tuesday and Idaga Hamus on Wednesday, Tigray Peace Force commander Ermiyas Ababu said, citing reports from his personnel in the area.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data monitoring group said Eritrean troops crossed the border at Zelambesa on Wednesday and came under drone attack at Guada while traveling toward Idaga Hamus.

It attributed the strikes to Ethiopia’s military.

Eritrean Minister of Information Yemane Gebremeskel said in a statement: “We are not in the business of refuting wild allegations or narratives.”

He accused Ethiopia of threatening regional peace through its pursuit of “sovereign access to the sea,” but did not explicitly confirm or deny the crossing.

Eritrea has previously denied Ethiopian allegations that it supports the TPLF — its enemy during the 2020-to-2022 Tigray war, when Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces.

During that war, the Associated Press documented accounts from survivors and witnesses accusing Eritrean soldiers of killings, rape and looting.

Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki dismissed allegations of abuses by his forces as “a fantasy” in 2023.

Eritrea announced last week that it was severing diplomatic ties after Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara.

Abiy on Monday said landlocked Ethiopia must have access to the Red Sea.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said it remained committed to dialogue with its neighbors.