Ethiopia: FDRE Government Communication Services – Current situation update (24.10.2022)

Ethiopia: Is the Tripartite Alliance planning to encircle Mekelle?

Joint Eritrean & Ethiopian forces conducted repeated drone attacks in the towns of Maykinetal, Werkamba, Sele and Abiy Adi today October 23, 2022” (Tigrai Television, 23.10.2022)

Sometimes things look the same and the results are similar too. The Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), Eritrean Defence Force (EDF) and Amhara Para-Military Group “Fano”. These have advanced in the Tigray region. The Tigray Defence Force (TDF) seems to have retreated or given way in the urban, towns and strategic areas to safe-guard and ensure that the Tripartite Alliance isn’t killing to many civilians and innocent bystanders in the conflict.

The Tripartite Alliance has created are corridor by taken Shire, Aksum and Adwa. On another front they have taken Adigrat. On the third front they have taken Alamata and Maychew. So with this in mind, they are clearly trying to encircle Mekelle and occupy the capital of the region. Just like they did in November 2020. It is returning like they did. However, just like that time. The TDF have retreated and they are stationing forces in the rural areas. They are going back to guerrilla combats and sabotage, which will inflict harm on the invading forces.

The Tripartite Alliance might look like they are on the road to victory, yet again. Nevertheless, that is hallow and to early to call. It is a reason why the war has lasted this long and there been plenty of strategic offensives from the alliance. It isn’t like this is any new or anything. No, we have seen this before and the same sort of beast is rearing its head.

The Eritrean armies are coming, looting and destroying the Tigray region. The invaders aren’t coming with “love” or concern. No, they are looting and taking the warehouses of the World Food Programme. They are ceasing all goods and deciding how to give or distribute. In a manner, that David Beasley of the WFP would have cried wolf, if the TDF did it. However, when the Tripartite Alliance is doing it. His just happy and remains silent. There is a double standard and it’s obvious too.

The Tripartite Alliance is carpet bombing, violating the region and has no issues with the amounts of causalities during the conflict. They are just showing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) who is the master and who should disengage. The authorities, the messaging from Addis Ababa is for Mekelle to “disarm”, but there is no reason to do so. Because, would the Tripartite Alliance have any mercy or any concern in general? It has been years of blockade, weaponizing humanitarian assistance and created a man-made famine. There is no justification or to trust the leaders of Addis Ababa, Bahir Dar or Asmara at this point. They are just creating a bloodshed and expect the victim to take them in with open arms…

Who does that and calls themselves, men of peace?

Really? Are we that silly in 2022?

Expect more revelations of massacres, bloodshed and destroyed towns in the name of “Operation Law Enforcement”. If the Tripartite Alliance re-enter Mekelle. Know that Abiy wants to sit at the Airport and look like a victor. That is what he wants. He and Afewerki wants to see the region brutally controlled and annihilated if possible. However, the Tigray Defence Force (TDF) will not give in or give way. They will return and have a strategy to weaken the invaders. Just like it did in Operation Alula in June 2021. Therefore, this war isn’t over… even if the Tripartite Alliance re-enter Mekelle, which seems to be the goal now. That can be said as the Tripartite Alliance is trying to encircle the capital.

That’s how the warfare seems at the moment. The TDF retreating and planning a new offensive. While the Tripartite Alliance thinks it’s totally succeeding and wants to soon claim “victory”. That victory will be hallow. It will not last… but be enough for Abiy and Afewerki to get a round of applause.

The talks starting tomorrow in South Africa. Has a sinister backdrop, as there is no reason for the Tripartite Alliance to have a ceasefire now. They are only seeing a “victory” and wouldn’t give way to the TDF. That is just an initial fact, especially when the Tripartite Alliance wants the TDF to disarm and be discontinued. Therefore, we know the ideals and the will of the dialogue is flawed from the get-go. Especially, when Tripartite Alliance is getting closer to encircle Mekelle, which is their final goal anyway. Peace.

Ethiopia: Oromo Legacy Leadership and Advocacy Association (OLLAA) – OLLAA, OSF, and IHRDA to hold event Highlighting Abuses Committed against Oromos (21.10.2022)

Somalia: World Food Programme (WFP) Reaches Record Numbers with Food and Nutrition Support in Somalia amid Ongoing Famine Risk (20.10.2022)

The scale-up has helped keep the worst outcomes of Somalia’s hunger crisis at bay so far.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 20, 2022 – The United Nations World Food Programme is delivering life-saving food and nutrition assistance to record numbers of people in Somalia, with over 4 million people a month receiving urgent humanitarian support to prevent famine in the face of the region’s worst drought in over 40 years.

The scale-up has helped keep the worst outcomes of Somalia’s hunger crisis at bay so far. But the situation on the ground remains dire, with lives and livelihoods being lost. WFP is racing against time to avert a projected famine and a death toll that could reach the tens or even hundreds of thousands.

Additional information for journalists:

– Over the last six months, WFP has more than doubled the number of people reached with life-saving food and cash assistance from 1.7 million in April to 4.4 million people in August. A further 450,000 children and mothers received nutrition support from WFP in August, as the agency expands both the caseload and number of treatment sites.

– In September, WFP reached almost 4.1 million people with emergency food and cash relief and half a million malnourished children and mothers with malnutrition treatment services.

– WFP is working to continue this expansion, including in hard-to-reach areas, and increase investment in longer-term programming such as malnutrition prevention, which will help to reduce the number of people who need treatment.

Nutrition prevention activities were almost entirely suspended from the second quarter of 2022 as – – WFP was forced to prioritize treatment services due to limited funds. The agency has resumed some prevention activities for children and pregnant or breastfeeding women and is working to do more.

– WFP is reaching new rural areas, including in the famine risk districts of Baidoa and Burhakaba, with food assistance and cash transfers. WFP’s mobile money transfers are an efficient way to getting assistance rapidly to people in hard-to-reach areas.

– WFP deployed a new helicopter in Somalia in September to deliver food assistance to hard-to-reach areas and get aid workers to the places they are needed most. The WFP-led Logistics Cluster is also using the helicopter to deliver humanitarian relief on behalf of other UN agencies and NGOs. The helicopter has so far conducted over 30 flights in September and October.

– WFP is the largest humanitarian agency in Somalia, with 12 offices across the country providing coverage in every state.

– WFP’s massive scale-up has largely been made possible thanks to timely support from key donors, particularly in recent months. It is essential that this is maintained. WFP has a funding gap of US$ 412 million across all activities for the next six months to March 2023, including a shortfall of US$ 315 million for life-saving food relief and nutrition assistance.

Somalia: OCHA – More humanitarian assistance is urgently needed in Somalia (21.10.2022)

Millions are at risk unless humanitarian assistance is scaled up and sustained.

MOGADISHU, Somalia, October 21, 2022 – Humanitarian organizations need an additional US$1 billion in funding to reach 7.6 million people targeted for humanitarian assistance in Somalia. The increased requirement for the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) comes against the backdrop of rapidly mounting needs and a corresponding scale-up in humanitarian action.

We are facing a major emergency. We declared the drought an emergency last year and have been scaling up to reach the most vulnerable people, but we need the international community’s support to prevent further deterioration,” said Somalia Deputy Prime Minister, Salah Ahmed Jama.

Somalia is currently facing its worst drought in at least 40 years. The historic failure of four consecutive rainy seasons, persistent conflict, displacement, and high food prices have left millions of people at risk and are pushing people in Somalia to the brink of famine. In response to the alarming situation, the Federal Government of Somalia has appointed a Special Envoy for Drought and reconstituted the Somali Disaster Management Agency, tasked with facilitating efforts of relief and rescuing people in distress.

In January, when the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan was launched, about 3.2 million people were affected by the cumulative effects of three consecutive failed rainy seasons. Now, because of yet more failed rains, more than 7.8 million Somalis, nearly half of the population, are affected by drought. More than 1.1 million people have left their homes in search of food, water, and livelihoods, a threefold increase since the beginning of the year. Three million livestock have died, and water sources have run dry.

Humanitarian organizations have adapted the response to target areas where the needs are highest, focusing on the most vulnerable people. But we know we urgently need to do more, and we require more money to do so,” said Adam Abdelmoula, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia.

The updated 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan requires $2.26 billion to respond to the most life-threatening needs of 7.6 million people across Somalia, an increase of $800 million on the initial HRP target in January of $1.46 billion for about 5.5 million people. More than 80 per cent of the funding requirement is related to drought. Donors have made generous contributions totalling $1.05 billion so far this year (46 per cent of the $2.26 billion appeal), enabling partners to reach about 6.5 million people across Somalia with some form of humanitarian assistance, but more funds are urgently needed to keep pace with the increasing scale, scope, and severity of the situation.

More than 300 humanitarian organizations, including international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), UN agencies and international organizations have projects in the HRP. More funding should be channelled to national NGOs, who are on the frontline responding to needs in some of the hardesthit and hardest-to-reach areas of Somalia. Immediate life-saving assistance must also be accompanied by investment in livelihoods, resilience, infrastructure development, climate adaptation and durable solutions.

Ethiopia: The Tripartite Alliance will “double-down” on Tigray…

““There’s no other situation globally in which six million people have been kept under siege for almost two years,” Tedros said. “There is a very narrow window now to prevent genocide.”” (World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 19.10.2022).

If an unarmed person is killed in Tigray, the joint army will not be responsible. Absolutely! If an unarmed person is killed in Tigray, TPLF will be responsible. Because all the people of Tigray have called for the war. They are working to make the unarmed people of Tigray a part of war. Four five times he called for everyone to join the war. TPLF is organizing people who are not armed with weapons under the command of General” (Getachew Shiferaw, 19.10.2022).

The ones that believes the Peace-Talks in South Africa will amount to anything is naive. The Ethiopian National Defence Forces (ENDF), Eritrea Defence Force (EDF) and Amhara Para-Military Group “Fano” is advancing on multiple front in Tigray. They are going house-to-house looting in Shire. They are shelling and air-raiding towns as well. The Tripartite Alliance is using drones and other technical devices to terrorize the region. Therefore, don’t expect peace and expect horrific results out of it.

The vilification and all blame is put on Tigray. The people of Tigray is guilty by association and by ethnicity. There is also news of leaflets dropped to “cease all cooperation with the TPLF” and the Tripartite Alliance has promised to deplete, delete and annihilate the Tigray region. That’s why the “hate-speech” and rhetoric is becoming vile. Not only by veteran journalist like Shiferaw, but by others.

There is little to no hope on the horizon. The Tripartite Alliance will do like it has done before, total pillage, destruction and leave nothing behind. The Tripartite Alliance is enjoying currently the spoils of war and they are proud of it too. While being glee over the downfall of certain fronts. Which gives the Tripartite Alliance more territories.

Just read these statements too…

The Terrorist TPLF group is a threat to the peace and security of the Horn of Africa (HoA) and it should be disarmed, according to a senior political analyst. Speaking to local media, history and political affairs author and analyst Prof. Mohammed Hassen stated that the people of Tigray have been suffering a lot because of the T-TPLF” (Abdurezak Mohammed – ‘T-TPLF disruptor of HoA’s peace, security: Analyst’ 20.10.2022, The Ethiopian Herald).

One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Ethiopia and Eritrea could be planning to create “concentration camps” to isolate the local population from supporting the TPLF. “The consequence is to move Tigrayan civilians from their homes into IDP camps at the expense of the West. The political calculation is the Tigrayans will become politically irrelevant for years to come,” he said” (Zekarias Ezra, 20.10.2022).

This is just compelling how this war has gone. The Tripartite Alliance is saying the Tigray Defence Force (TDF) should be disarmed. While they are violating the region, killing civilians, bombing their homes and stopping them to even farm their fields. The Tripartite Alliance has create a famine, a starvation campaign and has weaponized humanitarian assistance. The Tripartite Alliance are even blocking medicines and helping the hospital system from working in the region. That’s why the Tripartite Alliance is so eager to takeover airports. Just so it can air-raid, bomb and spread fear across the region. It is really unique that the Tripartite Alliance calls the TDF and TPLF “terrorists” when they are terrorizing and defending war-crimes in the name of “law-enforcement”.

Things are not only falling part, things are getting worse. People are dying endlessly. Just so the Prosperity Party could consolidate all power. They wanted all parties of the EPRDF coalition to bend the knee and bow down to the Prime Minister Abiy. However, they didn’t accept that and Abiy got his fellow allies to target, attack and never leave a stone unturned. That’s what his done…

Abiy and Afewerki is doing this to settle old scores. They are doing this to “win” and end the hegemony of Tigray. That’s their grievances. By doing so the Derg 2.0 has been created and the Medemer Terror is significant in this era. The leaders of Addis Ababa, Asmara and Bahir Dar must be so proud of the bloodshed, bloodbath and massacres in Tigray. All that blood is on their hands and they are responsible for it. Peace.

Ethiopia: Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Legal Action Worldwide (LAW) and Debevoise & Plimpton – Tigrayan Victims Secure Provisional Measures Relief in Landmark Human Rights Case against Ethiopia (17.10.2022)

Ethiopia: FDRE Permanent Mission to the United Nations – Geneva – Press Release (19.10.2022)

Ethiopia: Government of Tigray – External Affairs Office – Press Statement of the Tigray Central Command – People of Tigray fight for survival will succeed overcoming the genocidal war! (17.10.2022)

Ethiopia: FDRE Government Communication Services – Statement on the Resumption of Humanitarian aid and Services (18.10.2022)