Tigray conflict, a year of conflict with hundreds of deaths and thousands of displaced

The UN asked today to guarantee that there will be justice for the victims of crimes in the current conflict in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, that began a year ago between the Government and the Popular Liberation Front (FLPT), the force that governs that northern region, which has left hundreds of deaths and thousands of displaced people and threatens the stability of the strategic location of the Horn of Africa.

All parties fighting in the conflict have committed, to varying degrees, war crimes and crimes against humanity that had as main victims civilians who had nothing to do with the hostilities, as well as women, who suffered sexual abuse in a dimension that investigators acknowledge has yet to be determined, the UN said today.

The Government of Ethiopia declared yesterday a state of emergency throughout the national territory to try to stop the offensive of the Tigray rebels, after they achieved strategic advances on the neighboring Amhara region in recent days.

These are the most significant events of the armed conflict between the Government of Addis Ababa and the Popular Liberation Front (TPLF), for a year:

2020

• November 4th. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed orders a military offensive against the TPLF in response to an alleged attack on an Army base in that territory. Debrestion Gebremichael, chief administrator of the Tigray region, saw this as retaliation for defying central authorities by holding elections two months earlier.
• November 5th. Ethiopia declares war on the Tigray region and bombs a military complex in its capital, Mekele, despite pressure from the international community to cease hostilities.
• November 7. Parliament outlaws the Tigray regional administration and votes in favor of forming an interim transitional government.
• November 8th. The Government replaces the leadership of the entire security dome of the country.
• November 9. Amnesty International denounces a massacre of civilians in an attack carried out by forces loyal to the TPLF in the Tigrian town of Maikadra.
• 12th of November. The Ethiopian Parliament withdraws immunity from 39 TPLF deputies, including the president of the northern region.
• November 15. The TPLF admits to having attacked facilities in Eritrea and turns the conflict into an international dispute.
• November 17. Abiy Ahmed warns of a “final” offensive against the rebel Tigray, after defeating the ultimatum given three days earlier.
• November 20. The UN calls for a humanitarian corridor for Tigray.
• November 21. The African Union appoints three former African presidents to mediate between the government and the rebel authorities.
• December 14th. Ethiopia restores some basic services and reopens Tigray airspace.

2021

• January 4th. Sudan warns of the increase in Ethiopians fleeing the armed conflict, exceeding 60,000 refugees.
• February 2nd. The Tigrinan opposition assures that more than 52,000 civilians have died in the armed conflict.
• March 4. The UN accuses both sides of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Tigray.
• May 6th. The Ethiopian Parliament designates the PFLT as a terrorist organization.
• June 1. The World Food Program (WFP) warns that 5.2 million people, 91% of Tigray’s population, are in need of emergency food assistance.
• 3 of June. Ethiopia announces that Eritrean troops, in support of the Addis Ababa Executive, have begun to withdraw.
• June 9. Ethiopia rejects warnings about the famine in Tigray, but admits the existence of more than a thousand cases of sexual violence.
• 11th of June. United Nations agencies ask the Government to guarantee unlimited humanitarian access to Tigray and deliver basic supplies to the population.
• June 28th. The government declares a unilateral ceasefire in Tigray, after the regional interim administration called for a cessation of hostilities.
• June 29. The rebels claim to have “complete control” of the regional capital, Mekele, after the withdrawal of the federal Army.
• July 4th. The rebels accept with conditions the ceasefire declared unilaterally by the Government.
• July 13. Ethiopia rejects the UN Human Rights Council resolution calling for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from the northern region.
• July 20th. Rebel forces are intensifying their attacks on border areas in the neighboring Afar region of Ethiopia, spreading the conflict.
• October 19. The Government admits bombings against Mekele.
• November 2. The Government declares a state of emergency throughout the national territory to try to stop the rebels’ offensive. (I)