Attack
This Timeline of the Tigray War (January to June 2021) is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
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Text from the Wikipedia article “May Atsmi massacres”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
This Timeline of the Tigray War (January to June 2021) is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
BUDGET REPORT WAS PERPLEXED. TPLF AND OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES ADMINISTRATION HAD GOT REDRESSING BY OROMO PEOPLE DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION.(OPDO) IN 2004, before Ethiopian renaissance dam was constructed more Tigrayans were expelled following wronged Eritrea trend of 1991. Political beauraus inhabitation by Amhara investors were the crucial cause of this road stewed ambition.
The ENDF released the names of TPLF officials that had been captured, surrendered or killed. ENDF Brigadier General Tesfaye Ayalew said that TPLF were found hiding in caves and churches and many members of the militia and Tigray Special Forces have surrendered.
The number of Ethiopian refugees in Sudan rose to 61,000 due to resumed clashes in northern Tigray. In the Um Rakoba refugee camp, Amhara and Tigray refugees clashed with one another and workers have had to avoid placing the two ethnic groups together. Sudanese military intelligence removed 45 TPLF fighters from the Hamdayet reception centre.
EEPA reported there had been widespread looting including Voice of America reporting damage and looting of their property worth billions of birr in Southern Tigray. Eritrean soldiers were hindered from exiting Tigray with looted goods because of clashes between ENDF and TDF along the major roads into Eritrea. Shire and Egela woreda were being occupied by Eritrean soldiers.
An EEPA report stated that the TPLF was in control of the mountainous areas of Tigray and the ENDF was having a hard time dislodging them. It also claimed the ENDF is launching an offensive towards Samre. It reported that civilians in Humera, Shire, Aksum, Adwa, Adigrat, Wukro, Mekelle, Hewane, Workamba, Abi Adi, and Hagerselam had been hit with heavy artillery fire. Civilian casualties from December included 300 in Edagahamus, 1,000 in Aksum, 500 in Wukro, and hundreds in Hazwzen, Digum, and Nebelet.
EEPA report:
EDF killed 29 civilians including 5 priests and 4 deacons in the Medhane Alem church of Gu'itelo. An additional 11 people were killed in the adjacent village of Firedashum and 5 in Ara'iro.
ENDF killed dozens of civilians in Debre Abbay on 5–6 January 2021. A 4-minute video of the victims, apparently made by a member of the perpetrators' group, and described as "too graphic to publish", shows around 40 bodies in civilian clothes. EEPA's report mentioned 80 youths killed.
The UN OCHA said there were reports of fighting in rural areas and in the peripheries of Mekelle, Shiraro, Shire, and other locations. It also said the refugee camps of Hitsats and Shimelba are still not accessible. According to its Southern Tigray mission findings, things are gradually going back to normal in Alamata, Mehoni and Mekelle. This assessment is later rejected by the EEPA which in a later situation report on 9 January claims that according to its sources things in Alamata, Mehoni and Mekelle are not going back to normal.
The Ethiopian national defense force announced that it has killed four top leaders of the TPLF officials and captured nine others. ENDF's Deployment Department Head, Brigadier General Tesfaye Ayalew told that they included TPLF spokesperson Sekoture Getachew, the former head of the Tigray Finance Bureau, Daniel Assefa, Head of Dimtsi Woyane Radio and Television, Abebe Asgedom and former General Director of Ethiopian Television and Broadcast Authority, Zeray Asgedom.
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) killed 170 civilians in Bora (Southern Tigray) on 8–10 January 2021. Soldiers went house to house and executed more than 160 people. Done killing, the soldiers stopped families from taking their dead. Only two days after the slaughter were gravediggers allowed to set about their grim task; one of them buried 26 corpses in the graveyard of the Abune Aregawi Church, survivors said.
One of the seven founders of TPLF and who is accused by current Ethiopian government as the master mind to initiate the war by massacring the North Force army, Sebhat Nega, has been caught, according to Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). ENDF Deployment Department Head, Brigadier General Tesfaye Ayalew told Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) that Sebhat Nega was captured hiding in a ravine extremely difficult to reach. Together eight top TPLF officials are captured.
EEPA stated that the ENDF announced the capture of nine Tigray officials and the killing of four others. This includes Getachew Reda, former head of the Tigray finance bureau, and two other core members. The EEPA claimed that ENDF reinforcements were seen moving from Alamata to Mekelle. There were reports of heavy fighting in Mekelle and its outskirts and heavy artillery bombing in Wurko. It also claimed that satellite images have shown fire in Baeker, Humera where fighting has been reported. It also said that Eritrean troops are in all administrative zones except Debubawi Zone.
According to a later EEPA situation report, 8 January was the first time since the start of the conflict that a Sudanese TV channel reported no refugees crossing the border into Sudan.
According to Ethiopian National Defense Force, the group of nine captured TPLF leaders including the TPLF's strategist, Sibhat Nega, arrived in Addis Ababa. Former Tigray Region leader Abay Weldu was among the nine detainees.
The Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) killed twelve religious people in the church of Adi'Zeban Karagiorgis in Ari Giyergis (Southern Tigray) on 9 January 2021.
An EEPA situation report claimed that the ENDF built a fence near the Sudanese border to stop refugees from exiting to Sudan. The ENDF presence on the border was growing. Ethiopian TV stated that the TPLF had earlier executed 300 refugees in Hitsats camp and an anonymous source stated the opposite: "The Hitsats story is a lie. Eritrean forces massively killed their own citizens in Hitsats refugee camp to punish them for leaving Eritrea escaping their shoot to kill policy."
Bloomberg reported satellite images showing the destruction of UN facilities, a health-care unit, a high school, and houses in Shimelba and Hitsats camps. In Hitsats camp there were 14 actively burning buildings and 55 others were damaged or destroyed.
Ethiopia's military said on 10 January that it had killed 15 members of the Tigray region's former ruling party and captured eight others, according to state-run TV.
Citing a brigadier-general from Ethiopia's National Defence Force, the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation said that those captured included the region's former president Abay Weldu, who was also a former chairman of the region's ruling party. Those killed included the region's former deputy police commissioner, it said. The prisoners further include:
Neither are listed on the arrest warrant that was announced by the Federal Police Commission In the ETV report of the transfer of prisoners to Addis Ababa, Eritrean military were visible.
There was fighting in Debano (north of Werkamba) between ENDF and TDF; the people fled to the mountains near Weri’i River, away from the road. The Amhara forces who came following the Ethiopian army entered the village and massacred at least thirty civilians.
The government said it killed former foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin, former minister of federal affairs Abay Tsehaye, and Asmelash Woldeselassie in fighting. The three officials were killed after refusing to surrender, according to a statement by Brig. Gen. Tesfaye Ayalew. In addition to the three officials who were killed, five other party members of the TPLF were also apprehended, Reuters added.
An EEPA situation report stated that in Ruwa Gered a battalion of ENDF/EDF forces were destroyed by Tigrayan forces. The battalion was on its way from Adwa to Edaga Arbi.
An EEPA situation report stated that 4,000 ENDF/EDF were reportally killed during 3 days of fighting with the TPLF in Daero Hafash (East of Axum). The TPLF has captured a lot of weapons. Fighting is also going on in Tsigereda and around Wukro.
A UN team reported that it had encountered uniformed Eritrea troops.
On 15 January, or the days thereafter, the Mahbere Dego massacres were filmed at a cliff; it received international media attention.
The TPLF reportedly captured 30 Eritrean military personnel in the town of Wajirat.
It was reported that 370 Somali soldiers had died during the war.
An ambush was reported on ENDF troops near the town of Sero, the ambush destroyed 10 trucks, 4 armored car, and an anti aircraft gun.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) produced a report on the Humera massacre, finding that 92 people died and that houses, businesses, and food storage warehouses were looted by Fano, Amhara Liya Hayl, Amhara militias, and some ENDF and EDF soldiers. The EHRC called for government forces to restore judicial bodies' presence in Humera, to provide security, and to investigate and prosecute the crimes attributed to security forces.
Tigray TV journalist Dawit Kebede Araya and businessman Bereket Berhe were shot dead at around 20:10 EAT near the Adi Haus area in Mekelle, with relatives blaming security forces for their deaths.
The United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, brought attention to sexual violence in the Tigray War. She expressed "great concern" at claims of rape in Mekelle, people forced to rape family members, "sex in exchange for basic commodities", and "increases in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections".
Peace researcher Mulugeta Gebrehiwot visited a small village where 21 people had been killed.
Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, former EPRDF member and founder of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, telephoned Horn of Africa researcher Alex de Waal, and described the war as "genocide by decree". He stated that United Arab Emirates drones had played the main role in disarming TPLF forces about a month after the war started.
Debretsion Gebremichael, the deposed elected leader of Tigray Region, made a speech in which he called on Tigrayans to oppose the ENDF and EDF. He described the war as genocidal and called on the international community to prosecute Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki in an international court.
On 30 January, battles of the second phase of the military campaign, with a strong presence of EDF troops, many showing the Ethiopian flag and wearing ENDF uniforms, included fighting in Daero Hafash, Semema, Mahbere Dego, Feresemay, Nebelet and Edaga Arbi in the Central Zone, and Hawzen in the Eastern Zone. Thirteen trucks of EDF forces were moved towards Hawzen and Nebelet; 163 trucks of ENDF and EDF soldiers were moved to Central Zone.
Text from the Wikipedia article “May Atsmi massacres”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.