World

Tigray’s New Administration Calls for Rebel Disarmament as Commander Declares War Continues

By AP

An official of Tigray’s newly established federally backed caretaker administration urged rebel forces to lay down their weapons on Friday, hours after a rebel commander told his fighters to keep resisting government‑backed troops despite losing control of Mekelle, the region’s capital. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) withdrew from Mekelle in early October when government‑allied forces entered the city to crush a rebel attempt to overthrow Ethiopia’s government. The Ethiopian government installed a six‑month caretaker administration in Tigray, promising to restore services, help displaced people return and prepare for elections, but fighting has continued. Mekelle residents reported a drone strike that killed four people and injured six others as they loaded goats onto a truck on Tuesday; the casualties could not be independently verified. Redae Halefom Woldeselassie, a senior official in the caretaker administration, said rebel forces were collapsing and urged fighters to return home and resume civilian life. He dismissed the prospect of the rebels retaking the city, saying the conflict served a small clique of leaders rather than the people of Tigray. Earlier, Lieutenant General Fisseha Kidanu, identified in a television broadcast as commander of the Tigray army, pledged to reverse recent military setbacks and said Tigray was still at war. He called on local militias and volunteers to engage the enemy, urging attacks on government‑held positions despite the opponents’ advantages in drones and heavy weapons. The TPLF has claimed to have inflicted heavy losses on government forces, but the Associated Press could not independently verify those claims. The government’s allies include the Tigray Peace Force, made up of former members of the TPLF’s armed wing, which has complicated the renewed conflict. Redae said Ethiopian troops and allied forces were conducting joint security operations, including measures to prevent looting, and promised preparations for displaced residents to return, though no timetable was given. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, speaking on Monday to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, accused the TPLF of forcibly recruiting young people to fight instead of disarming under the terms of the November 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. The renewed fighting has effectively shattered the agreement, which ended the region’s devastating 2020‑2022 war that caused an estimated 500,000 civilian deaths through violence, famine and collapsed health services, according to researchers at Ghent University in Belgium.