Ethiopia Confirmed Capture of Few Cities in Tigray, Coordinating Aid

October 18, 2022

Shire airport, now under Ethiopian forces, will be used to delivering Humanitarian Aid to Tigray region 

Ural military truck is seen with Ethiopian Flag in north Ethiopia. (Image from SM)

Borkena 

On Tuesday, the Ethiopian government confirmed that it had controlled Shire (in the western part of the Tigray region of Ethiopia), and Alamata and Korem (in the south). 

The Ministry of Government Communication services said Ethiopian Forces adhered to strict military discipline to avoid war in urban centers and had managed to prevent harm to civilians. 

Shire, Alamata and Korem cities were captured without any fighting in the urban centers, the government added. 

The statement also said that the Ethiopian government is making preparations to coordinate with aid organizations to ensure that humanitarian aid is reaching the areas that are under the control of the Ethiopian Forces. 

It is working on opening delivery routes from the West and from the south.

“The Government, in coordination with humanitarian operators, is making preparations to expand the routes through which humanitarian assistance could be reported. A concerted effort is underway to open the North Gondar route to the Shire as well as the Kombolcha-Dessie-Woldiya-Kobo-Alamata route,” it said. 

Based on disclosure from the government, a task force is established to facilitate the work and coordinate with relevant actors. 

The United States, some of its western allies and the United Nations itself have been projecting an image of disaster in the Tigray region of Ethiopia due to Ethiopian Defense Force’s response to the TPLF’s latest offensive which was launched on August 24. 

They all asked for an immediate cessation of hostilities.  They painted an image of the massacre of civilians. The TPLF reactivated the “Tigray genocide” propaganda soon after losing control of Kobo last month. 

The Ethiopian government does not seem to buy the outcry from state and non-state actors. “The ENDF [Ethiopian National Defense Force] has averted the grim scenario some have predicted by echoing TPLF propaganda, it said. 

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Ethiopian forces have advanced further north from the south direction and controlled Maychew which is only about an hour and a half drive from Mekelle.  The Ethiopian government is yet to confirm it. 

Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government has announced readiness for the African Union-led peace talk with the TPLF rebel groups.  

The conflict in Northern Ethiopia has caused extensive damage in the Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions of Ethiopia. Thousands of civilians have been killed and millions displaced.