The extensive deployment of Eritrea’s army and security forces in Ethiopia indicates the deep involvement of Eritrea in the Ethiopian polity. Instead, he leverages his military power to dictate regional policies and extort economic concessions from his neighbors, in addition to deploying his network of illicit trade in the Horn of Africa region and beyond. Today, Isaias rules a country stricken by poverty despite Eritrea’s ample access to ports and an untapped potential for trade.
Isaias and Abiy will continue to destabilize the region unless their newfound alliance is limited through diplomacy or the use of force. Ties between the two governments deteriorated in the late 1990s, eventually leading to conflict, and I served on Ethiopia’s Central Command for the duration of the war against Eritrea from 1998 to 2000. I remained engaged in bilateral defense and security matters during my tenure as Ethiopia’s defense minister until 1995. Our relations after 1991 were not smooth but continued relatively amicably until after the 1993 Eritrean independence referendum, when Ethiopia and Eritrea started to realign their relations in the spirit of a bilateral relationship between two sovereign states. The relationship between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Isaias’s Eritrean forces went sour in 1985-due to reports of Isaias’s secret negotiations with the Soviets and the blocking of a humanitarian corridor from Sudan-but we rekindled ties in 1987 due to the need to fight against a common foe, and our cooperation continued until the demise of the Derg in May 1991.Īs chair for military affairs and member of the executive committee of the TPLF, I met with Isaias and his colleagues on several occasions.
During the pre-1991 war against the Ethiopian military junta, known as the Derg, Tigrayan and Eritrean forces joined hands in repulsing the Derg’s “Red Star Campaign” in 1982, which aimed at dislodging the Eritrean forces from their last stronghold in the Sahel mountains of northern Eritrea. I know Isaias both as an ally and as an adversary. The terms of this deal aren’t public-but its implications are becoming ever more alarming. Last month, Kindeya Gebrehiwot, a professor and ex-president of Mekelle University, tweeted photos and accounts of houses and grain stores burned down by Eritrean forces on the Adet-Zana front during this period.Ībiy has, it appears, invited the Eritrean dictator Isaias Afwerki to wreak mayhem on Tigray. My sources on the ground who wish to remain anonymous-as well as daily reports from the Tigray-based media outlets Dimtsi Weyane and Tigray Media House-confirm that the Eritrean regime has committed at least 10 divisions at the Tsediya front alone. In the absence of restraints, these rampant atrocities have induced human-made famine and continue to cause avoidable loss of life. As late as mid-April, heavy fighting was happening on three fronts in central Tigray involving dozens of Eritrean divisions, and Eritrean troops have reportedly been rebadged with Ethiopian military uniforms to disguise their identities.ĭespite the Ethiopian government’s attempt to block any information from the region, international human rights organizations have scrupulously documented mass killings, rape, and wanton destruction and pillaging of villages, industries, clinics, schools, government offices, and banks. Numerous reports indicate that the Eritrean troops have committed atrocities in Tigray and that this violence has continued unabated since Coons met Abiy.
After four months of denials that the Eritreans were inside Ethiopia, Abiy belatedly acknowledged their presence and promised to request their withdrawal.
Chris Coons visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in March, the top American demand was that Abiy should order the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the Tigray region.