ETHIOPIAN WAR OF AGGRESSION
Eritrea mobilizes its soldiers, raising Tigray fearsAssociated Press
Sun, September 18, 2022
Eritrea, which backed Ethiopia in the conflict in Tigray, makes moves after fighting reignited in the region
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Eritrea is mobilizing its armed forces and appears to be sending them to Ethiopia to aid its neighbor’s war in the Tigray region, according to activists and international authorities.
Britain and Canada issued travel advisories asking their citizens in Eritrea to be vigilant.
Eritrean rights activist Meron Estefanos told The Associated Press that her cousin was called up “and is somewhere in Ethiopia fighting and we don’t know if he is alive or not.”
People shop at Sholla Market, the day before the Ethiopian New Year,
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022. (AP Photo)
“It’s just a sad war, like our region has not seen enough blood for generations,” said Meron, director of the Eritrean Initiative on Refugee Rights.
Eyewitnesses in Eritrea said that people including students and public servants are being rounded up across the nation.
Eritrea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, mandates military service for all its citizens between the ages of 18 and 40. Rights groups say the practice, which lasts indefinitely in most cases, is driving thousands of Eritrean youths into exile. Eritreans make up a large number of the migrants attempting to cross to Europe, often dangerously by sea.
It was not possible to get comment from Eritrean authorities.
Eritrean forces fought on the side of Ethiopian federal troops in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which shares a border with Eritrea, when that conflict broke out in November 2020. Eritrean forces were implicated in some of the worst atrocities committed in the war — charges they deny.
Tigray authorities now assert that Eritreans are again entering the war that reignited in August after a lull in fighting earlier this year.
The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year.
Inside Tigray, millions of residents are still largely cut off from the world. Communications and banking services are severed, and their restoration has been a key demand in mediation efforts.
“It’s just a sad war, like our region has not seen enough blood for generations,” said Meron, director of the Eritrean Initiative on Refugee Rights.
Eyewitnesses in Eritrea said that people including students and public servants are being rounded up across the nation.
Eritrea, one of the most isolated countries in the world, mandates military service for all its citizens between the ages of 18 and 40. Rights groups say the practice, which lasts indefinitely in most cases, is driving thousands of Eritrean youths into exile. Eritreans make up a large number of the migrants attempting to cross to Europe, often dangerously by sea.
It was not possible to get comment from Eritrean authorities.
Eritrean forces fought on the side of Ethiopian federal troops in the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which shares a border with Eritrea, when that conflict broke out in November 2020. Eritrean forces were implicated in some of the worst atrocities committed in the war — charges they deny.
Tigray authorities now assert that Eritreans are again entering the war that reignited in August after a lull in fighting earlier this year.
The conflict is estimated to have killed tens of thousands of people and left millions without basic services for well over a year.
Inside Tigray, millions of residents are still largely cut off from the world. Communications and banking services are severed, and their restoration has been a key demand in mediation efforts.
Eritrea's mass mobilisation amid Ethiopia civil war
BBC News Tigrinya - .
Mon, September 19, 2022
Eritrea has been criticised for its compulsory and decades-long military service
BBC News Tigrinya - .
Mon, September 19, 2022
Eritrea has been criticised for its compulsory and decades-long military service
(file photo)
Eritrea is mobilising military reservists to bolster the army, which has been aiding neighbouring Ethiopia in its fight against rebel forces.
Security forces in many areas have been stopping people to check if they are exempt from military conscription.
Groups of men were crying as they bid farewell to relatives, witnesses say.
Many in the capital, Asmara, were given notice on Thursday and moved to the border with Ethiopia's Tigray region, within hours, sources told the BBC.
Reservists up to the age of 55 have been called up, they said.
Eritrea has compulsory, decades-long military service, which has been widely criticised by human-rights groups, but analysts say the latest mobilisation efforts are linked to the civil war in northern Ethiopia - a conflict that recently flared up again after five months of relative peace.
Eritrea: 'We won independence but still await freedom'
Witnesses told BBC News Tigrinya that mobilisation notices were distributed on Thursday in the capital, the second-largest city, Keren, the western town of Tessenai and other areas.
They called on reservists to report to their respective head offices, while also advising that they should carry their own supplies, including blankets and water containers.
Mothers, children and wives were crying as they bid farewell to their sons, fathers, brothers and husbands, sources told the BBC.
Those who do not heed the call-up have been warned of severe consequences, but some are reportedly ignoring it.
Eritrea has been fighting alongside Ethiopia's central government troops since the civil war broke out in Tigray in late 2020.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed and million displaced by the war and many more remain desperate for food, according to aid organisations.
Several human rights organisations have accused Eritrean soldiers of committing atrocities in Ethiopia, but these claims have been denied by Eritrean officials.
The US has imposed sanctions on the Eritrean Defence Forces and the ruling PFDJ party in response to their involvement in the conflict.
President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since the country broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, but between 1998-2000 the two nations fought a brutal and costly war over a contested border area.
A 20-year military stalemate ensued until Abiy Ahmed became Ethiopia's prime minister in 2018. The peace deal won Mr Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.
Eritrea is mobilising military reservists to bolster the army, which has been aiding neighbouring Ethiopia in its fight against rebel forces.
Security forces in many areas have been stopping people to check if they are exempt from military conscription.
Groups of men were crying as they bid farewell to relatives, witnesses say.
Many in the capital, Asmara, were given notice on Thursday and moved to the border with Ethiopia's Tigray region, within hours, sources told the BBC.
Reservists up to the age of 55 have been called up, they said.
Eritrea has compulsory, decades-long military service, which has been widely criticised by human-rights groups, but analysts say the latest mobilisation efforts are linked to the civil war in northern Ethiopia - a conflict that recently flared up again after five months of relative peace.
Eritrea: 'We won independence but still await freedom'
Witnesses told BBC News Tigrinya that mobilisation notices were distributed on Thursday in the capital, the second-largest city, Keren, the western town of Tessenai and other areas.
They called on reservists to report to their respective head offices, while also advising that they should carry their own supplies, including blankets and water containers.
Mothers, children and wives were crying as they bid farewell to their sons, fathers, brothers and husbands, sources told the BBC.
Those who do not heed the call-up have been warned of severe consequences, but some are reportedly ignoring it.
Eritrea has been fighting alongside Ethiopia's central government troops since the civil war broke out in Tigray in late 2020.
Hundreds of thousands have been killed and million displaced by the war and many more remain desperate for food, according to aid organisations.
Several human rights organisations have accused Eritrean soldiers of committing atrocities in Ethiopia, but these claims have been denied by Eritrean officials.
The US has imposed sanctions on the Eritrean Defence Forces and the ruling PFDJ party in response to their involvement in the conflict.
President Isaias Afwerki has ruled Eritrea since the country broke away from Ethiopia in 1993, but between 1998-2000 the two nations fought a brutal and costly war over a contested border area.
A 20-year military stalemate ensued until Abiy Ahmed became Ethiopia's prime minister in 2018. The peace deal won Mr Abiy the Nobel Peace Prize a year later.
President Isaias Afwerki (left) welcomed Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to Asmara in 2018
The two leaders later united against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a common foe, whose elites dominated Ethiopia for three decades before Mr Abiy came to power.
The Ethiopian government accuses TPLF leaders, who control the northern Tigray region, of plotting to destabilise the country, while Mr Isaias sees them as a sworn enemy.
Eritrea is isolated diplomatically and is a highly militarised state which controls almost all aspects of people's lives.
The repression has led to many young people fleeing the country.
During Mr Isaias' rule, apart from fighting Ethiopia, Eritrea has found itself at war with all its neighbours at some point - Yemen in 1995, Sudan in 1996 and Djibouti in 2008.
Update 19 September 2022: Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel has since said that a "tiny number" of reservists had been called up, denying that the entire population had been mobilised.
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