Growing concerns over Ethiopia and Eritrea's ganging up against TPLF
After more than three weeks of war, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has claimed victory in his military campaign against Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The fierce fighting there has left thousands of civilians and security forces dead, according to the International Crisis Group. More than 40,000 people have reportedly fled the conflict area, mostly to Sudan. Fears are growing that Ethiopia's internal conflict could spread beyond its borders as Abiy resists calls for dialogue.
One country is already more involved in the crisis than any other. "[Eritrean President] Isaias Afewerki has been in this war from day one," Ethiopia observer Kjetil Tronvoll, research director of peace and conflict studies at Norway's Bjorknes University College, told DW.
Ethiopia and its neighbor Eritrea have a long and troubled history of conflict. But today, Eritrea's Isaias and Ethiopia's Abiy stand together in fighting the TPLF.
When news of a military alliance between President Isaias Afwerki and Abiy emerged, Eritrea's former defence minister Mesfin Hagos wrote about how sure he is that neither leader is interested in a peaceful resolution until the TPLF is destroyed.
It is lawful for a state to request the military assistance of another state. The involvement of Eritrea in Ethiopia isn't illegal per se.
“But there is mounting evidence that activities of Eritrean troops include perpetrating war crimes on a vast scale. Every report from the northern parts of Tigray speaks about Eritrean soldiers looting. They ransacked the town of Shire. They shelled Humera close to the Sudanese border. They systematically dismantled the university and pharmaceutical factory in Adigrat. They stole cars, generators, and high value goods. Now we hear that they are combing ordinary houses in towns and villages, taking such basic items as furniture, doors, and jerrycans. Eritreans are said to have emptied food stores and looted cattle, sheep and goats.” Says African Arguments Alex de Waal.
Catholic priests in Eritrea were horrified by the looted items coming into Eritrea from Tigray and admonished anyone buying them. Despite the information blackout, journalists have pieced together enough information on these actions.
International criminal law prohibits a belligerent from removing, destroying or rendering objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population. The fast-approaching humanitarian crisis with at least 2 million displaced is due not only to fighting but to starvation crimes such as these.
Eritrean troops overran and emptied four refugee camps where Eritreans who had escaped their country had been living, until last month under the protection of the Ethiopian government. That's another violation of international law.
As the weeks pass, it is becoming ever clearer that President Isseyas Afewerki has long planned this war with the intention of annihilating the TPLF and reducing Tigray to a condition of complete incapacity. His strategy is to say nothing and make a fait accompli on the assumption that the world will, in due course, come to live with it.