500 Militia Members Disarmed in Enderta District, Tigray Region

Enderta Milita cooperate with the Ethiopian Defense Force members

Ethiopian Defense Force Commandos collect arms from Militia in Enderta (Photo : EBC) Borkena

December 14, 2020 

Ethiopian State Media, EBC, reported on Monday that about 500 militia in Enderta district of Tigray region have disarmed peacefully and handed over arms to the Ethiopian Defense Force. Enderta district is about 30 kilometers east of Mekelle city. 

They were armed by Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) — a party that dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades — as part of its preparation to wage war against the Ethiopian government the result of which turned out to be a loss for TPLF. 

EBC cited Major Alebachew Ambachew as saying that the militias were initially skeptical about surrendering their guns to the Ethiopian Defense Force. But now they are comfortable to surrender their firearm, he said. 

Tigray provisional administration under the leadership of Mulu Nega (Ph.D.) has started work in the Tigray region on Monday this week by introducing a number of actions to restore peace and stability in the region. Disarming licensed and unlicensed firearms is one of the priority action areas for his administration. 

He said that people who have legal or illegal arms have until Tuesday this week to surrender to the Ethiopian Defense Force or other security officials. Security forces intend to conduct house to house search as part of the program to disarm.