By The Star Staff Writer
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopian forces have broken the last line of defense for the Tigrayan militia whose rejection of the government’s writ, defiance to hold illegal elections and its attack on an army base plunged this populous Horn of Africa nation into a 25-day bloody war that killed thousands of combatants and rendered tens of thousands refugees in Sudan.
“The federal government is now fully in control of the city of Mekelle,” said Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in a statement on Saturday. “With the full command of the regional capital, this marks the completion of the ENDF’s last phase.” ENDF is short for Ethiopian National Defense Force.
Abiy said the federal police had launched a manhunt to find TPLF “criminals” to bring them to justice. On Nov. 12, Ethiopian lawmakers stripped 39 TPLF members, including the President of the Tigranyan region Debretsion Gebremichael and TPLF Spokesman Getachew Red of immunity from prosecution. A day later, Prime Minister Abiy appointed Mulu Nega, former Addis Ababa University assistant professor, as the new president for the Tigrayan region. The premier said at the time Nega would form his government from “political parties legally operating in the region.”
The relatively quick end to the war, which Addis Ababa dubbed a “law enforcement operation,” drew hearty cheers from Ethiopians and from the citizens of the region, dispelled fears of a protracted conflict and put the lie to analysts’ alarmism that the hostility between the well-armed forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian army could spread to and destabilize other nations in the region.
“Never rely on clueless pundits to understand your country. #Ethiopia,” said Amanuel Tesfaye, a lecturer at Addis Ababa University in a Twitter message.
After Abiy’s announcement of victory, Ethiopians on social media have been reeling off failed predictions and false reports that were bandied about since the war began on Nov. 4: A civil war in Ethiopia. Arrival of 200,000 Ethiopian refugees in Sudan. The difficult of defeating battle-hardened TPLF forces. A protracted war.
“WE PREVAILED AGAINST ALL ODDS (.) We are Ethiopians,” wrote Feven, an Ethiopian Twitter user.
The capture of Mekelle represents an enormous setback for TPLF leaders, who may have been mulling over a future in which they could have the opportunity to return to power in Ethiopia or at least enjoy their loot inside or even outside the country.
Prime Minister Abiy has repeatedly rejected calls to sit down with TPLF leaders, calling them “criminals.”
“Thanks so much for your unspeakable resilience despite … huge pressure… Once again we salute our hero #NDF,” tweeted Dawit Djote, an Ethiopian.
TPLF hardliners have already said they would continue their war against Prime Minister Abiy, possibly by resorting to asymmetric warfare. But the success of such a strategy is not guaranteed, as the tactics of modern war have drastically changed over the years since the time a multi-ethnic coalition removed dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam from power in 1991. Now an armed drone can remotely — and with no risk to its operators hundreds of miles away — annihilate insurgents, pick off their leaders and destroy their bases from the sky. It’s also unlikely that the TPLF would get enthusiastic recruits among the young generation of Tigrayans, most of whom seem, unlike their fathers and grandfathers in the 1970s and 1980s, uninterested in becoming guerrillas, especially when the TPLF’s prospect of toppling Abiy and ruling Ethiopia again are nigh unattainable.
Despite being a minority in Ethiopia, Tigrayans dominated politics, security and economy in the country for 27 years, brutalized Ethiopians and invaded Somalia, where Ethiopian forces under a TPLF command committed war crimes. A TPLF-led administration also went to war with Eritrea.
Former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn congratulated Abiy and his entire government for the victory.
“Let peace prevail in Ethiopia!!!” he wrote on Twitter.
“I am deeply proud of our National Defense Force,” he tweeted. “Your sacrifice has liberated the people of Tigray. It has created a lasting & enduring political space to pursue the already sweeping reform. Let me say Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart.”
The TPLF’s rout was, too, welcomed by the citizens of the region.
Mohamed Haji Ingiriis, a fellow at the African Leadership Center at King’s College in London lauded the Tigrayan people for “rightly and helpfully siding with Prime Minister Abiy and the rule of law.”
“Good riddance! The TPLF was a dark omen that visited upon the region,” Ingiriis said in an interview with The Somalia Star. “The group sowed the seeds of Ethiopia’s disintegration, helped introduce clan federalism in Somalia and committed massive human rights abuses in Somalia.
“The region is better off without the TPLF,” said Ingiriis. “Ordinary Tigrayans must be very angry with TPLF gangsters who have pitted them against all the other Ethiopians and even all the other citizens of the Horn of Africa region to preserve their own selfish interests.”
Mohammed Hersi, chairman of Kenya Tourism Federation, agreed.
“Well done PM,” he tweeted, responding to Abiy. “It is in our best interest as Eastern Africa that Ethiopia remains stable at all times. We have enough mess already in the region. Restore order and let the people who left return. That move was a precision one to sort out this threat once and for all.”
Another Kenyan, Cyrus Maina wrote: “Congratulations for subduing the rebellion and restoration of the rule of law in Tigray.
“Africa now look up to you to build a stronger, a more cohesive and a prosperous Ethiopia. May God bless the work the work of your hand and accompany all your efforts with victory,” added Maina.
Ethiopia’s army chief Gen. Birhanu Jula said the federal army had freed more than 7,000 members of the Northern Command, who were held hostage in the region, from TPLF forces. The TPLF’s attack on this command triggered the war in the Tigrayan region that killed thousands of combatants, drove tens of thousands of civilians from their homes into Sudan and touched off revenge killings, most notably the massacre in the town of Mai-Kadra in Tigray Region’s Western Zone in which at least 600 civilians were killed.
Prime Minister Abiy appeared well aware of what needs to be done now that the operation has been, in his words, “successfully concluded,”
The critical task ahead, he said, would be to rebuild what has been destroyed, repair what was damaged and return Ethiopian refugees in Sudan to their homes. The government’s “utmost priority” would be normalcy to return to the Tigrayan region, he said.
He thanked Tigrayans who he said “have provided utmost support and cooperation to the Ethiopian National Defense Force in all corners.”
In his statement, Abiy didn’t provide details about how and exactly when the national army actually entered Mekelle, but he said the army undertook “the operation with precision and due care for citizens ensuring civilians are not targeted.”
Abiy said the army had taken control of the city’s airport, the headquarters of the regional administration and other public institutions.
He urged “friends of Ethiopia” to help the national government in rebuilding the Tigrayan region, giving its people the “respite, humanitarian assistance and security they deserve.”
“I hope this will tear down the darkness on Ethiopia and the dawn of hope is on the horizon,” tweeted Kumela Tafa, an Ethiopian. You “have defeated the enemy, now you need to work on winning the war, working on bringing the people on your side. God bless Ethiopia!”