War against the people continues in Ethiopia a year after the “peace agreement” of Tigray
Featured image: Camp of displaced Tigrayans in Mekelle. Source: Addis Standard
It has been a year since a “cessation of hostilities” agreement was signed between the central government of Ethiopia and the regional government of Tigray in Ethiopia. In this civil war, many atrocities were committed by the forces of the Ethiopian and Eritrean State armed forces, as well as militias used by the Ethiopian State, against the people of Tigray with the support of the imperialists. Millions were displaced as a result of the fighting. A siege was put around Tigray, an attempt to starve six million people to death. Despite the “peace agreement”, atrocities against civilians, such as murders and sexual violence are still committed by the armed forces of the neighboring country Eritrea, and Amhara militias are carrying out genocidal murders and displacement of the Tigray people. The people are still starving to death, as food aid is suspended from the region.
Multiple armed groups representing different nationalities are struggling for national liberation within Ethiopia, and the State is trying to control this struggle with an iron fist. In the one hand the militias struggle against the forces of the old State, but they also struggle against each other and commit atrocities against different nationalities. The State has used these armed groups to commit atrocities for it, putting the masses against masses – for example in Tigray, the Fano militias of the Amharas were fighting against the Tigrayan people, even though for decades, also the Amharas have faced chauvinism and oppression from the old State and continue being targets of genocidal policies, as we have reported. After the “peace agreement” in Tigray, the State attempted to control the Amhara militia and intensified the repression against the Amharas. In April, the government tried to integrate the regional militias as part of the State forces, but the militias refused and started a new phase of armed struggle against the State. Since April, large protests and clashes erupted in the Amhara region.
At the same time, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which is waging armed struggle against the ENDF (Ethiopian National Defence Forces) in the Oromia region, also goes against the Amharas. However, the Oromos are also a subject to the war against the people waged by the Ethiopian State. On the 29th of October a mother of seven, Kuli Hawas, and three others were murdered by the ENDF after being arrested in the Oromia region. Kuli was killed because his sons “had been causing harm” to the ENDF. 7,000 people of the village were forcibly displaced as collective punishment. There had been clashes between the Oromo militia and the ENDF before the killing. The prime minister Abiy Ahmed himself is an Oromo, proving that the situation is not about identities, but about suppressing the struggle of the people and maintaining a regime loyal to no one but its imperialist masters.
In October there has also been new reports of drone attacks against civilians in Amhara, among them a 1,5-year old child. Drone attacks against the Oromo people are also frequent in the region of Oromia. The Ethiopian State started using drones against the people in 2021 after they were supplied to it by Chinese social-imperialism, as well as through Turkey and Iran. According to a report from December 2022 covering Tigray, Afar, Oromia and Amhara, of 93 air strikes 15 were drone attacks and 19 strikes in total hit civilians. It is common that the ENDF for example strikes market places – which is clear aiming of a civilian target, a war crime according to the international laws.
The regime of the Nobel peace prize winning Abiy Ahmed is waging a bloody war against the people in many fronts in the interest of its masters, putting the people of various nationalities against each other to maintain the imperialist plundering of the country.
