ADDIS ABABA, KOMPAS.com – Clash on Ethiopia with the ruling party in the northern region of the country stemming from mass protests that overthrew a previously ethnic-dominated government Tigray in 2018.
Judging from the size of the population, the Tigray ethnicity is only 6 percent of the total population of Ethiopia. Yet they had dominated national politics in the country for nearly three decades until the protests took place.
But this situation changed when Abiy Ahmed became the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018.
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He is the first prime minister to come from the Oromo ethnic group, which is the country’s largest ethnic group. Ethnic Tigray also lost posts in the cabinet and lost several military posts in key positions.
Meanwhile, the Oromos and Amharas, Ethiopia’s second-largest ethnic group, as well as other groups have long felt marginalized.
Conflict escalation after receiving the Nobel Prize
Prime Minister Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2019 for his success in creating peace with Eritrea, and ending a bitter stalemate that has existed since the war on the two countries’ borders from 1998 to 2000.But the situation at home has become somewhat complicated.
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TPLF leaders returned to their territories. Abiy also accused them of trying to destabilize the country.
In August 2020, the general election that had been declared had to be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak despite protests from the opposition.
There is no new date set as the date for holding the election. Tigray also opposed Abiy by holding his own election on September 9.
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The government in the capital of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, then labeled the Tigray government’s actions as illegal. Meanwhile, the Tigray ethnic leaders no longer recognize Abiy’s government.
As a result, federal funding for the Tigray region was cut, which the TPLF said was “an act of war.”
On November 4, Abiy ordered a military response to “traitorous” attacks on federal army camps on Tigray.
But the TPLF denied responsibility for these attacks and said they were a pretext for “invasion”.
Two days later Abiy sacked the head of the military, many of whom were ethnic Tigray leaders. On November 9, Ethiopia carried out air strikes on Tigray, with Abiy saying the operation would end soon.
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Worried about triggering regional conflicts
As a result of the escalation of the conflict, thousands of refugees fled to neighboring Sudan. Following the steps of the United Nations (UN), the unity of the African Union is also demanding an end to this fighting.
The flow of refugees continued to swell to nearly 25,000 people. On November 12, Amnesty International said many civilians were killed in the massacre that eyewitnesses said was carried out by forces loyal to the Tigray government. TPLF denies their involvement.
The following day, the United Nations called for an investigation into “war crimes” in the region, and that evening Tigray fired “missiles” at two airports claimed to be used by the Ethiopian military in Amhara state.
On Saturday (11/14/2020), Tigray threatened to launch a missile attack in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea which is accused of assisting Ethiopian federal forces.
The area around Asmara airport was hit by a number of rocket attacks that night, sparking fears of a regional conflict.
On Sunday (11/15/2020), President Tigray, Debretsion Gebremichael, claimed responsibility for the attack.
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