TPLF Must Respect Truce, Desist from Belligerence: Ethiopia Committee

August 25, 2022   

• Faction’s recklessness threat to peace, security of region

BY HAILE DEMEKE

ADDIS ABABA – The Federal Government’s peace talk main committee has issued a statement that the terrorist TPLF must stop hostile rhetoric and commit to AU-led peace talks without preconditions and the international community must condemn the group’s belligerence.

Noting a peace proposal issued on 17 August 2022 which includes plans for a ceasefire and restoration of services to the region, the main committee highlighted that the faction declared the humanitarian truce to be dead on the following day. The TPLF came up with all sorts of lies and fabrications to destroy the relative peace that has prevailed in the past few months as a result of the humanitarian truce declared by the government.

The contrast between the two sides could not be starker, when one side is outlining a road map for peace the other side is declaring war, when the government is exploring all options to consolidate the humanitarian truce, the TPLF is actively working for the demise of the truce. TPLF is clearly rejecting the bold peace overtures of the government, it was indicated.

The statement recalled that before the onset of the conflict two years ago, many had pleaded with the TPLF to resolve its differences with the government peacefully. It dismissed the advice and appeals of elders, mothers, religious leaders and others and attacked the northern command and ignited the conflict. TPLF is showing an obvious lack of commitment to peace. It is once again forcefully conscripting the youth in the region and beating its war drums.

The government does not want to dignify TPLF’s endless falsehoods with a response. The TPLF has been making all sorts of accusations over the last couple of years. It has ceaselessly spewed hostile propaganda, mobilizing the population in the Tigray region with threats to all those opposed to forced conscription. Draconian punishments and denial of access to humanitarian aid are used as weapons to mobilize the population for war.

TPLF must respect the humanitarian truce and it is critical for humanitarian aid to be delivered in a secure environment. The consequences of TPLF’s recklessness will be devastating for peace and security in the entire horn of Africa and must desist from such extreme belligerent behavior.

It has to stop hostile rhetoric and commit to peace talks under the auspices of the AU without preconditions. The international community should also condemn the obvious belligerence of the TPLF, lest it becomes complicit in the unconscionable march of the TPLF to a third round of conflict. All those who profess to be committed to the stability of the region and humanitarian ideals should exert pressure on the TPLF to renounce violence and endorse peace. Failing to condemn the TPLF’s bellicose behavior is tantamount to enabling it to launch another round of aggression and bloodbath, the statement remarked.

The Ethiopian Herald 25 August 2022