The remnant of TPLF (Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front) continued to kill & abduct officials of Tigray interim administration. It was the first time the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had disclosed the toll of attacks by TPLF forces, which ruled the region until it was toppled by an offensive ordered by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in November.
According to the Ethiopia’s State of Emergency Fact Check, TPLF assassinated 22 government officials in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, where the latter is operating as a guerrilla force after losing war to the Ethiopian Defense Force. It was said that the assassination targeted members of Tigray region provisional administration. Tigray Regional Interim Administration is working tirelessly alongside with Federal Gov’t on effort to rebuild the war-hit region & deliver services to people of Tigray.
Ethiopia’s government said on Wednesday an additional 20 interim officials had been “kidnapped” by forces loyal to TPLF and a further four have been “wounded and hospitalized”. Nine of them happened in the Southern Mibark zone where one member of the administration was assassinated. Five were in the Temben, Zoba south-east zone of Tigray region. And four kidnappings were in the central zone of the region, according to information from the Task Force.
In terms of assassinations, nine officials were killed in northeast Tigray, the highest figure of any area, while six were killed in the region’s central zone. Both areas have seen heavy fighting.
The attacks on the officials have been carried out “by TPLF fighters that claim to be fighting for the people of Tigray but have rather been actively engaged in the destruction of property, kidnapping and killing of members of the provisional administration that are tasked with bringing stability,” said the statement. All the assassinated members of the administration are ethnic Tigreans.
The federal government declared victory four weeks after the offensive began on November and replaced the TPLF’s regional administration with a provisional administration headed by officials appointed by the federal government. But six months on, fighting continues in Tigray as pro-TPLF fighters wage an insurgent campaign in the region’s countryside.
There has been mounting pressure on the Ethiopian government from the international community. On Wednesday U.S. President Joe Biden issued a statement expressing concern about the violence and human rights abuses in Tigray, urging the parties to declare a cease-fire and engage in negotiations to restore peace.
