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Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Monday the Tigray region's dissident leaders had fled west of the regional capital after weeks of fighting but indicated federal forces were monitoring them closely and would attack them soon.
Abiy, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize, this month ordered military operations against leaders of Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), in response to what he said were TPLF-organised attacks on Ethiopian federal army camps.
More than three weeks of fighting between federal soldiers and pro-TPLF forces has left thousands dead in the northern region, and prompted tens of thousands of refugees to flee across the border into Sudan.
"I want them to hear me: yesterday evening, around midnight, we saw them from the situation room in the area between Hagere Selam and Abiy Addi," Abiy said in remarks to lawmakers, referring to two towns west of the Tigray capital Mekele.
"We didn't attack them at night because as they retreated they took their wives, children and abducted soldiers... But this will not continue."
The fighting has been a dramatic escalation of tensions between Abiy and the leaders of the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before anti-government protests swept Abiy to office in 2018.
Abiy said on Saturday the military operations were "completed" after federal forces claimed control of the Tigray regional capital Mekele.
The TPLF leaders, however, have repeatedly vowed to fight on as long as federal forces are on Tigrayan soil.
Their exact whereabouts remain unknown.
'Mekele is ours'
As the Ethiopian military bore down on Mekele last week, global concern mounted about a possible bloodbath in a city that, before the conflict, had a population of half a million.
A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify claims from both sides about how the fighting is going.
On Monday, Abiy claimed soldiers did not kill any civilians as they took over Mekele and other cities in Tigray.
"Mekele is ours, it was built with our own resources. We are not going to destroy it," he said. "Not even a single person was harmed by the operation in Mekele."
The International Committee of the Red Cross said Sunday that hospitals in Mekele were flooded with trauma patients, though it did not specify how the injuries were sustained.
Abiy also dismissed claims from TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael that airstrikes had resulted in many civilian casualties.
As Abiy tries to shift towards helping Tigray recover, the national human rights body called Monday for telecommunications to be restored and for water, electricity, and health services to resume.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which is government-affiliated but independent, also noted "complaints of ethnic profiling" including "forced leave from work" and travel restrictions.
"EHRC is gravely concerned that while there is no government policy nor legal framework condoning ethnic profiling, security measures designed t
He replaces Debretsion Gebremichael, whose immunity from prosecution was removed Thursday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International said Thursday that scores of civilians were killed in a \"massacre\" in the Tigray region, that witnesses blamed on forces backing the local ruling party.
The \"massacre\" is the first reported incident of large-scale civilian fatalities in a week-old conflict between the regional ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), and the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, winner of last year's Nobel Peace Prize.
\"Amnesty International can today confirm... that scores, and likely hundreds, of people were stabbed or hacked to death in Mai-Kadra (May Cadera) town in the southwest of Ethiopia's Tigray Region on the night of 9 November,\" the rights group said in a report.
Amnesty said it had \"digitally verified gruesome photographs and videos of bodies strewn across the town or being carried away on stretchers.\"
The dead \"had gaping wounds that appear to have been inflicted by sharp weapons such as knives and machetes,\" Amnesty said, citing witness accounts.
Witnesses said the attack was carried out by TPLF-aligned forces after a defeat at the hands of the Ethiopian military, though Amnesty said it \"has not been able to confirm who was responsible for the killings\".
It nonetheless called on TPLF commanders and officials to \"make clear to their forces and their supporters that deliberate attacks on civilians are absolutely prohibited and constitute war crimes\".
Abiy ordered military operations in Tigray on November 4, saying they were prompted by a TPLF attack on federal military camps -- a claim the party denies.
The region has been under a communications blackout ever since, making it difficult to verify competing claims on the ground.
Abiy said Thursday his army had made major gains in western Tigray.
Thousands of Ethiopians have fled across the border into neighboring Sudan, and the UN is sounding the alarm about a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday promised prosperity and an improved quality of life for Zimbabweans during the launch of a new five-year economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy One (NDS1) in Harare, which focuses on inclusive economic development between 2021 and 2025. BY TATIRA ZWINOIRA NDS1 succeeds the Transitional Stabilisation Programme (TSP) launched in 2018 which introduced austerity measures that resulted in the public being heavily taxed after the inception of the 2% electronic transaction tax. The NDS1 expects economic recovery rates of 7,4% next year, 5,5% in 2022, 5,2% in 2023 and 2024, and 5% in 2025. “Through the implementation of NDS1 we, therefore, envision inclusive development, an improved quality of life for our people and shared prosperity. Our country must equally emerge from the strategy period more competitive with diverse and vibrant trade relations and investments,” Mnangagwa said. “This launch of the NDS1 and its subsequent implementation commencing in January 2021, allows the nation to build on the achievements and lessons learnt during the implementation of the TSP. Our success going forward must continue to be anchored on our united unitary character, as a nation,” he said. Mnangagwa said the strategies, policies, legal and institutional reforms, programmes and projects highlighted in the NDS 1 document would be implemented to achieve accelerated, high, inclusive, broad-based and sustainable economic growth. The areas to be prioritised under NDS1 include economic growth and stability, food and nutrition security, governance, moving the economy up the value chain and structural transformation, human capital development, environmental protection, climate resilience and natural resource management, housing delivery, digital economy, health and well-being; infrastructure and utilities, image-building and international engagement and re-engagement, social protection; youth, sport and culture; and devolution. He said the idea was to transform the economy from a natural resource-based economy to a knowledge-driven one. Meanwhile, the gross national income per capita is expected to close the year at US$1 159,80 (2020), US$1 842,20 (2021), US$2 137,10 (2022), US$2 712,70 (2023), US$2 960,70 (2024), and US$3 207,30 (2025). However, the continued volatility of the Zimbabwe dollar on the back of no substantial foreign currency, commodity or market confidence backing will make it difficult to achieve these goals as wages continue to be eroded by the depreciation of the Zimdollar. NDS 1 envisages that this can be achieved through the adoption and swift implementation of bold policies aimed at achieving economic transformation. “This will be done through the creation of a thriving private sector-led competitive economy, implementation of sound macroeconomic policies anchored on fiscal discipline, monetary and financial sector stability including enhancing an open and business friendly environment, which promotes both foreign and domestic investment,” the policy document read. Mnanga
[Capital FM] Nairobi -- Education Cabinet Secretary Professor George Magoha on Monday announced the full reopening of schools for all learners on January 4, following a coronavirus triggered shutdown in March.
[UN News] It will take a variety of different actors to confront and deal with the \"daunting challenges\" in the Sahel region, the head of UN peacekeeping told the Security Council on Monday.
BULAWAYO-BASED Afro-jazz artiste Agenda Maphosa said there was need for music companies to help up-and-coming artistes with mentorship and sponsorship so that they quickly find their feet in the music industry. BY SHARON SIBINDI Maphosa told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday that a lot of talent was lost as most gave up due to lack of support. “Without money in the music industry, you cannot go anywhere no matter how good your music is. Some young stars end up smoking, drinking and engaging in other bad habits because of depression after finding it hard in their music careers,” he said. “I wish our arts management could find a way to bring them closer, have programmes that also scout for talent from suburbs, small townships or anywhere around the country. I am very concerned about young up-and-coming stars because they are the future.” The 25-year-old artiste-cum-hairdresser said he had faced challenges during the production of his second album Ekhaya Kuse Khaya. The album features an array of music legends among them Albert Nyathi, Machanic Manyeruke, Jeys Marabini, Iyasa, Charles “Mahlaba” Banda and Sotja Moyo. “I love music with all my heart, but things are getting tight especially if one does not have a proper sponsorship or a promoter as a lot of things are needed especially when you want a properly packaged album,” he said. “There is a lot that is required, from recording fees, payment for instrumentalists, transport, and money to upload music online.” Maphosa said for his second yet-to-be-finished album which will be launched soon, he had already spent over R5 000. “I wish there was an organisation that could listen to up-and-coming artistes and support them since other artistes ask for bribes so as to assist those in need of help. A producer in Harare almost cheated me of my US$150 promising and giving high hope to facilitate a collaboration with Ammara Brown,” he said. “Then another producer in Bulawayo took my US$40 promising to fix errors on my album which he never delivered according to the agreement and my money was not paid back.” Maphosa said he had realised the importance of good management in the music industry for one’s dream to come true. “I am urging young up-and-coming artistes to get mentorship and management to be protected from such things,” he said.
Quite what would have triggered last week’s outburst by the Private Sector Commission (PSC) in response to correspondence sent to the Palm Court Restaurant and Bar by the COVID-19 Task Force in the matter of what the Task Force says is the popular downtown entertainment facility’s repeated breaching of the restrictions associated with the pandemic, is difficult to tell.
The article The PSC, Palm Court and the COVID-19 Task Force appeared first on Stabroek News.
BETHLEHEM, GEORGIA, UNITED STATES – 2013/05/03: Goal Retailer exterior. (Picture by John … [+] Greim/LightRocket through Getty Photographs) 2013 John Greim Goal (NYSE: TGT) is scheduled to report its fiscal…
Keria Ibrahim, speaker of Ethiopia’s upper parliamentary chamber, the House of federation, has quit her position citing a looming constitutional blank with postponed elections.
Her resignation was announced first by regional Tigray TV. Privately-owned Addis Standard said Keria’s resignation was on the outcome of a Council of Constitutional Inquiry on deferred elections.
According to Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau, Keria resigned from her position refusing to work with those who display unconstitutional & authoritarian practices. She has been in the role since April 2018.
She is quoted as saying she did not want to be part of a system where: “the constitution is being violated and an authoritarian government is being formed.”
Ethiopia, currently under a five-month State of Emergency imposed over the coronavirus pandemic have also postponed the much anticipated polls. The current government’s mandate expires in October and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has recently rejected calls for a transitional government.
The former speaker belongs to the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, TPLF, a former coalition partner of the now defunct Ethiopia Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front, EPRDF; which brought Abiy to power in 2018.
Abiy has since gone on to disband and rebrand it into the Prosperity Party, PP, which the TPLF opposed and refusing to be part of the new party. TPLF is currently the ruling party in the northern Tigray region but technically in opposition with the federal government.
Despite the shelving of polls by the elections body, the TPLF has insisted that elections will be held in the region according to schedule.
The Angolan Civil War, beginning at the time of the countrys independence from Portugal in 1975, was a 27-year struggle involving the deaths of over 500,000 soldiers and civilians. Initiated at the height of the Cold War, pro- and anti-communist forces in Angola set the stage for a proxy fight between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Though the fighting officially ended in 2002, Angola remains in economic and social turmoil with a massive refugee crisis and millions of landmines impeding farming practices.
Rich in diamonds and oil, Angola was one of the last African nations to receive independence from a European power. On April 25, 1974, a Portuguese military coup d’état protesting the country’s colonial practices successfully overthrew the regime. The combined forces of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), and the National Union for Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) created a transitional government with the Alvor Accord of 1974.
Within a year the government had disintegrated, and with aid from the USSR and the Cuban military, the Marxist-oriented MPLA under the leadership of José dos Santos had wrested control of most of Angola. Indirectly and through proxies, governments from the United States, Brazil and South Africa funded UNITA, providing munitions, intelligence reports, and mercenaries.
Heavy fighting continued until 1991 when a temporary agreement known as the Bicesse Accords was reached. Calling for an immediate ceasefire and the removal of both Cuban and South African troops, the agreement mandated a new national government and army, along with Angola’s first multi-party elections. A year later, MPLA candidate José dos Santos won 49% of the popular vote in the election compared to 40% for UNITA candidate Dr. Jonas Savimbi. When Savimbi disputed the outcome, UNITA resumed guerilla war against the MPLA.
In 1993 the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 864 placing
[Addis Standard] Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party of Tigray regional state, has won 98.2% of the vote for the regional parliament, taking 152 of the total 190 seats.
