Situation in Ethiopia (per 26 February)
- There were reports of shooting around Lalibela airport in Amhara on Friday morning, as well as a lot of Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) on the move around Lalibela.
- At least eighteen members of one family were killed by a drone attack in North Shewa, when they returned from a celebration of one of their family members.
- Most of the roads in the Amhara region are closed. The road from Dessie to Addis Ababa is blocked, reportedly for ‘security reasons’.
- ENDF extrajudicially executed at least 11 civilians in Bahir Dar, Amhara, in August and October 2023, states Amnesty International in a new briefing.
- Four priests of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) serving in the Zequala Abune Gebre Menfes Kidus Monastery in East Shewa Zone, Oromia region, were killed.
- The church stated armed militants kidnapped the priests from the monastery on 20 February, later killing them. The Oromo regional government blamed the attack on the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).
- A Security Committee in Oromia, which started operating after PM Abiy Ahmed came to power, ordered extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions to crush resistance in Oromia, a Reuters investigation found.
- The Committee, Koree Nageenyaa, is reportedly headed by PM Abiy’s former chief of staff and President of the Oromia region, Shimelis Abdisa, and holds other local political and security officials.
- The committee is reportedly responsible for ordering dozens of killings and hundreds of arrests, among which a massacre of 14 shepherds in 2021 that the government has previously blamed on OLA fighters.
- A French journalist working for Africa Intelligence to cover the African Union Summit has been detained in Ethiopia since 22 February on suspicions of conspiring “to create chaos” in the country.
- The journalist was arrested while meeting an official from the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) party.
Situation in Sudan (per 26 February)
- Indiscriminate attacks by both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were reported in a new detailed report by the UN Human Rights Office, based on 303 interviews with victims and witnesses, as well as photos, video evidence and satellite images.
- “Some of these violations would amount to war crimes,” said UN Human Rights chief Volker Türk.
- A recent video analysed by the UN shows credible evidence of students being beheaded by men wearing SAF uniforms in El-Obeid City. The students were reportedly ethnically profiled as RSF supporters. The troops were parading with decapitated heads in the street while chanting ethnic slurs.
- The report also highlights the civilian deaths caused by the use of missiles and artillery strikes in densely populated areas by both parties. In addition, the report highlights the ethnic killings by RSF in Darfur.
- Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) headquarters in Zalengei, Central Darfur, were raided on Friday, with several vehicles and phones being stolen. The identity of the perpetrators has not yet been named.
- SAF and RSF should agree to a truce over the Ramadan period in order to provide humanitarian aid, stated Yasir Arman, a leading figure of the Civil Forces Alliance Tagadum.
Situation in Tigray (per 26 February)
- Two senior Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) members were expelled from the central committee and their party membership was revoked over alleged divulging of information.
Situation in Eritrea (per 26 February)
- Tigrayan diaspora members have denied any involvement in the clashes at the Eritrean event in The Hague last weekend, as was reported by some media. Tigray media Tghat urged media “to be careful not to be an indirect tool of the Eritrean regime […]”.
- Dutch members of parliament have asked parliamentary questions about the long arm of Eritrea in the Netherlands in connection with The Hague, as well as the involvement of the Eritrean embassy.
- Ex-member of the Dutch parliament Myra Koomen, now spokesperson for organisations supporting the Eritrean government, arranged access for Eritrean government supporters to current Dutch MPs.
- The only Eritrean newspaper reportedly defined the streets of EU countries and the US as a frontline, and urged government supporters in the diaspora to keep up the fight.
- The Eritrean government also spelled out the role of the ‘Fourth Front’, referring to the diaspora, in strengthening national identity and national consciousness.
- One man in Woolwhich, Canada, was arrested after pro-government Eritreans clashed with demonstrators at an event organised by the pro-government side.
International Situation (per 26 February)
- Ethiopia and the UK signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday to enhance peace and stability in the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia border areas, the Ethiopian foreign affairs ministry announced.
- The purpose of the MoU is to reduce the threat of al-Shabaab in the region. The MoU comes in the wake of the controversial MoU between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
- Eritrea’s President Isaias Afewerki met with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt this weekend. The two leaders reportedly discussed increased cooperation on economic, commercial, and security fields. The leaders also discussed the developments in the Horn region and in Gaza.
- The leaders agreed upon the importance of respecting the sovereignty of Somalia and pledged to support Somalia in rejecting any measures that could undermine its sovereignty.
- SAF leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan travelled to Tripoli, Libya, to meet with head of the Libyan Presidential Council, Mohamed Memphis. He travelled with Sudanese interim Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Al Sadiq Ali, and head of Sudan’s General Intelligence, General Ahmed Ibrahim Mofadal.
- Al-Burhan will also meet prime minister of Libya’s Government of National Unity (GUN), Abdulhamid Dabaiba, to discuss bilateral relations. Dabaiba met with RSF leader Hemedti last weekend.
- The United States expressed deep concern over the decision of SAF to prohibit cross border humanitarian assistance from Chad and reports of obstruction of aid from reaching communities in areas controlled by the RSF, as well as RSF looting and hindering of aid by both sides.
Links of interest
Sudan: Horrific violations and abuses as fighting spreads – report
Armed Raid at Médecins Sans Frontières in Sudan: A Stark Reminder of Humanitarian Risks
Sudanese anti-war leader calls for Ramadan truce, humanitarian aid
Ethiopia: End extrajudicial Executions in Amhara region, bring perpetrators to justice
In Ethiopia, a secret committee orders killings and arrests to crush rebels
French journalist covering African Union summit detained in Ethiopia
TPLF expels senior members ahead of party conference
Bassiehof – Hoofdrol voor oud-CDA Kamerlid Myra Koomen bij Eritrese rellen Den Haag
Eritrean regime spells out the role of its “Fourth Front” in controlling the Eritrean diaspora
Demonstration involving Eritrean members turns violent in Woolwich, one man arrested
Egypt: President El-Sisi Receives President of Eritrea Afwerki
Libya-Sudan: Al Burhan thanks Tripoli for welcoming thousands of displaced Sudanese
Condemning the Obstruction of Humanitarian Assistance and Closing of Civic Space in Sudan
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Martin Plaut 