Situation in Tigray (per 19 October)

  • ENDF says it controls the city of Shire in West Tigray and Alamata and Korem in south Tigray.
  • Tigrai Media House (THM) reports that a drone attack was carried out in the town of Axum on 18 October, killing and injuring many people; the exact number of casualties is not yet known.
  • TMH also said that Eritrean troops looted World Food Programme (WFP) stores in Shire town which were supposed to be distributed to  internally displaced people from western Tigray.
  • Ethiopian and Eritrean troops killed three young people on 18 October after entering the town of Shire.
  • Eritrean forces have reportedly carried out house to house in Shire town, confiscating civilian goods that appear to be getting shipped back towards Eritrea with the assistance of the ENDF.
  • ENDF/EDF forces have shut down all VSAT networks (two-way satellite links) in Shire.
  • According to Freedom House, the internet shutdown in Tigray has prevented the spread of evidence of mass atrocities, limiting the impact of global solidarity and demands for accountability.
  • Simon K Hagos, investigative journalist, distributed pictures of convoys entering ‘humanitarian corridors’ that would have opened towards Shire, Kobo, Alamata, Weldya and Kombolcha. Simon K Hagos was earlier this week recognized on a recording of a chatroom, saying that Tigrayans should be “genocided”.
  • Ethiopian authorities announced they are preparing to restore utilities and services in occupied regions of Tigray. William Davidson, Crisis Group senior analyst for Ethiopia, finds this demonstrates the political motivation of the previous neglect to restore all utilities in Tigray by Ethiopian authorities.
  • The Tigray Universities Scholar’s Association (TUSA) wrote to multiple international organisations calling for firm action to end hostilities in Tigray.
  • The Guardian article accusing TPLF of extrajudicial killings in Kobo is questioned by sources on ground.

Situation in Ethiopia (per 19 October)

  • According to a deputy spokesperson for the US Department of State, Iran has sold Mohajer-6 combat drones to Ethiopia in 2021.
  • Addis Standard reports that government forces have killed a member of the Karrayyu Gadaa leaders, Boru Roba, and abducted his sister and brother with two other people on 15 October in Fentalle, East Shewa Zone of Oromia region.
  • An eye witness told Addis Standard that the Ethiopian government security forces killed Boru Roba near his residence by making him lie down and shot him in the head in public.
  • “After they [security forces] killed Boru Roba, they took away his brother and sister and two others to a nearby military camp, which is located in Gidara village,” said the witness.
  • UN OCHA states there is a cholera outbreak in the Bale Zone of Oromia, with 191 cases reported, including 4 deaths, as of 10 October 2022. OCHA warns that “due to people’s mobility, there is a high risk that the outbreak could propagate into bordering zones.”

Situation in Eritrea (per 19 October)

  • Bloomberg cites three anonymous diplomats and an Eritrean expert saying that the South Africa peace talks have been delayed indefinitely due to Eritrea’s push for an outright victory in Tigray.
  • Bloomberg asserts that Eritrea funds its military operations from the proceeds of businesses which are part of the Red Sea Corp., which it says is the secret sovereign fund of the  PFDJ.

Regional Situation (per 19 October)

  • On 14 October, Tigray victims secured provisional measures relief from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), which announced it would seize the case regarding “serious and massive human rights violations against Tigrayan civilians” against Ethiopia.
  • The ACHPR issued provisional measures urging  the Ethiopian government “to end all violations and ensure humanitarian access in Tigray”.
  • This is the first regional human rights body to consider claims coming from the conflict in Northern Ethiopia.

International Situation (per 19 October)

  • US House Foreign Affairs Lead, Michael McCaul, calls on US President Joe Biden to sanction individuals responsible for atrocities in northern Ethiopia.
  • Human Rights Watch calls on the US, the EU and the UNSC to use “appropriate tools, including targeted sanctions and an arms embargo, to protect civilians at risk [in Tigray].” 
  • According to Taz, a German newspaper, a pro-Eritrean regime protest will take place in Giessen. The demonstration seeks to protest the end-of-August cancellation of a pro-Eritrean regime festival.

Links of interest

Ethiopia says army has captured three towns from Tigray forces

Twitter: TMH says ENDF and EDF looted WFP stores in Shire

Twitter: Tigrai Media House

Tigrai Universities Scholars Association calls for resolute action

Twitter: William Rion Reports that Eritrean forces are searching house to house in Shire

Twitter: Tghat ትግሃት The Eritrean forces shut down the electricity and VSAT networks in Shire.

Freedom on the Net 2022: Countering an Authoritarian Overhaul of the Internet

Twitter: Simon K Hagos Shire, Kombolcha, Weldya, Kobo, Alamata routes r open for humanitarian corridor.

Twitter: William Davison the federal government’s denial of basic services to Tigray was a political choice

ኢራን ድሮናት ናብ ኢትዮጵያ ከምዝለኣኸት ኣሜሪካ ኣፍሊጣ – BBC News ትግርኛ.

Eritrea Goes for Broke in Ethiopian Civil War to Crush Old Foe

Government security forces kill member of Karrayyu Gadaa leaders and abducted five others in Oromia

What’s happened to principled humanitarian action in conflicts? The case of Tigray

UN OCHA flash report: Cholera outbreak

Provisional measures for the relief of Tigray victims

McCaul on Escalation of Fighting in Ethiopia

Civilians in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region at Heightened Risk

Dictatorship supporters in Giessen: Aftermath for Eritrea Festival

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