March 10: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemns acts of “ethnic cleansing” in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, as he calls for “full accountability” and the departure of troops from neighbouring Eritrea and other fighters. More reports of atrocities emerge, with civilians accusing Eritrean forces of carrying out massacres and systematic rape. But Ethiopia’s government denies their presence in the country.įebruary: Amnesty International says Eritrean soldiers killed “hundreds of civilians” in November in the holy city of Axum in Tigray. January 27, 2021: The US calls on Eritrea to “immediately” withdraw its troops who have been fighting in Tigray. However, fighting continues in parts of Tigray. November 28: Abiy announces that military operations in Tigray have been “completed”. The relations between Ethiopia and Sudan are on edge with the incoming refugees as longstanding territorial claims between both sides are deadlocked. The United Nations warns of possible war crimes in Tigray. The 10-day conflict leads to tens of thousands of refugees fleeing into neighbouring Sudan, describing the horror of intense fighting, including horrific killings. TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael also says his forces have been fighting Eritrean troops “on several fronts” in the days before. November 14: The TPLF fires rockets into Asmara, the capital of neighbouring Eritrea that has been supporting the federal government. Abiy says the operation will be over “soon” as the fighting escalates with thousands of people killed so far and tens of thousands displaced. With telephone and internet communication lines cut, information was hard to obtain and verify. November 9: The war intensifies as at least 600 civilians are killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra.
As a result, the federal government called the vote illegal and started withholding social welfare funds from Tigray. In September 2020, Tigray had held regional elections in defiance of Addis Ababa which postponed the polls until August due to COVID-19. The fighting was an outcome of months-long tensions between the sides. November 4, 2020: Prime Minister Abiy orders troops to respond to an attack on federal army camps that he blamed on the TPLF, which denied this.
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