TPLF Rebels Reject Ethiopian Government Ceasefire, Vows to March to Eritrea

June 29, 2021

There are reports of wide spreading killings in the Mekelle region of Ethiopia after TPLF rebels took control of the city following the withdrawal of Ethiopian Defense Force  

Borkena 

An ethnic Tigray organization, Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political force that ruled Ethiopia ruthlessly for nearly three decades until their domination in the central government ended after the then ruling coalition elected Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister in April 2018, rejected Ethiopia’s immediate “humanitarian ceasefire.” 

They entered Mekelle on Monday after the Ethiopian Defense Force, over which they claimed a decisive military victory, withdrew from it. 

“… Tigrayan forces categorically ruled out a truce, with a spokesman for the region’s ruling party saying their forces would not rest until the Ethiopian military and its allied forces had left the entire region,” reported CNN, media that has been giving extensive coverage to alleged rights abuse and famine in the region. 

Getachew Reda, spokesman for the TPLF, called the ceasefire a “joke”. “  He is quoted as saying,  “We are not party to and will not be part of such a joke.”

The spokesperson also said war against the Ethiopian forces was still underway about thirty kilometers away from the regional capital, Mekelle. 

Another report from the Associated Press said that the TPLF has the resolve  to take the war to Eritrea and outside Tigray to the rest of Ethiopia, including the capital Addis Ababa. 

“The fighters now retaking parts of Ethiopia’s Tigray region will pursue soldiers from neighboring Eritrea back into their country and chase Ethiopian forces to Addis Ababa ‘if that’s what it takes’ to weaken their military powers,” Getachew Reda is quoted as saying. 

Ethiopians are waiting for answers from PM Abiy Ahmed’s government as to why the government declared immediate unilateral ceasefire and withdrew troops from most parts of Tigray region of Ethiopia. 

TPLF claims Ethiopian government decision came after a crushing defeat, which the Ethiopian government dismisses as lies. 

In May 2021, the Ethiopian Parliament designated TPLF as a terrorist organization. It attacked northern command of the Ethiopian Defense Force on the night of November 4, 2020 – an incident that triggered the conflict as an immediate cause.