Two weeks after the federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire in the face of rebel gains, Tigrayan troops claimed Tuesday to have launched a new attack in Ethiopia’s conflict-torn northern region.
After commencing the operation on Monday, Tigrayan forces seized Alamata, the major town in southern Tigray, according to a spokesman for the Tigrayan army.
Fighting was also taking place in western Tigray, according to Getachew Reda.
Because communications in the area were largely down, the reports could not be independently verified, and an Ethiopian military spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After eight months of fighting, the Tigray Defence Forces surged across much of Tigray last month and seized Mekele, the regional capital.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the fighting, which has been marked by gruesome massacres and widespread sexual violence, while the UN estimates that hundreds of thousands are on the verge of starvation.
After Tigrayan forces cleared out dura in November, security forces and officials from the neighboring Amhara region moved into both the southern and western areas of Tigray to support the Ethiopian army.
“We promised to liberate every square inch of Tigray,” Getachew said.
“Yesterday (Monday) we launched an offensive in (the southern region of) Raya and were able to absolutely rout federal defence forces and Amhara special forces divisions,” he said.
“We have been able to secure most of southern Tigray including Korem and Alamata (the main town in the area)”.
Getachew claimed TDF fighters were still “in hot pursuit” of pro-government fighters, adding: “We don’t want to give them a time to regroup.”
The TDF had touted its seizure of Mekele and most of Tigray as a big achievement and dubbed the government’s unilateral ceasefire a “joke.”
Later, rebel leaders stated they supported the ceasefire “in principle,” but with strong terms, including Eritrean and Amhara forces withdrawing from the region.
Federal soldiers pulled back strategically to focus on other threats, according to Abiy and other officials.
Abiy, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts to improve relations with Eritrea, dispatched the army to Tigray in November to depose the region’s once-dominant ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
Abiy accused them of planning attacks on Ethiopian military bases in Tigray, the country’s most vital economic and industrial area in the Horn of Africa.