Day: July 14, 2021

Asfaw Abera fled his homeland in northwestern Ethiopia three decades ago, stealing away on foot into Sudan as soldiers and ethnic Tigrayan rebels exchanged fire nearby.

During his long stretch in exile, Asfaw, an ethnic Amhara, scrubbed toilets in Khartoum office buildings while dreaming night and day of going back.

Last month, he finally got his wish, entering the town of Humera on a government-chartered bus, fighting tears as he passed sesame and sorghum fields he had last glimpsed as a teenager.

The relocation of Asfaw and other Amharas is part of a daring project to reshape the balance of power at the western edge of Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region.

It comes at a pivotal moment in the eight-month-old conflict that has already left thousands of people dead and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine.

Tigrayan rebels are ascendant again, having stunned the world last month by retaking the regional capital Mekele from forces loyal to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Now they have set their sights on Amhara “invaders” like Asfaw and have launched a fresh offensive with the goal of seizing “every square inch” of Tigray.

Amharas and Tigrayans have long dueled over who owns the famously fertile lowland territory of western Tigray, with firebrands in both camps saying they are ready to die defending it.

‘We’ll stay no matter what’

That includes Asfaw, who is among the first wave of 15,000 Amhara families who local authorities plan to eventually bring over from Sudan.

Sitting this week in the courtyard of the spacious Humera home where he now lives with his wife and seven children, Asfaw scoffed at rebel leaders’ threats to drive him out a second time.

“They say they are prepared to destroy us, but we will stay no matter what,” Asfaw told AFP.

“With the will of God, our time has come now.”

Asfaw’s joyous return last month clashed dramatically with his furtive exit in the early 1990s, when the insurgent Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) was on the cusp of taking power.

After toppling longtime autocrat Mengistu Hailemariam in 1991, the TPLF went on to dominate Ethiopian politics for 27 years.

Its early reforms included dividing the country into nine regions and placing northwestern towns including Humera into the newly constituted region of Tigray.

Amharas saw that move as a brazen land grab but were too cowed to do much about it.

Today many Amharas in western Tigray recall the era of TPLF rule with bitterness, saying they were afraid of even speaking the Amharic language in public, opting for Tigrinya instead.

Amhara officials who agitated for change, and especially those who asked for western Tigray to be administered by the neighboring Amhara region, were often jailed.

“I have suffered a lot, and I can’t even start to comprehend what they did to me,” said Siltal Admassie, a local Amhara official who landed behind bars multiple times.

‘A new life’

In 2018, however, Abiy came to power on the strength of persistent anti-government protests, and top TPLF officials were soon sidelined.

Deep rancor between the new and old regimes spilt over into conflict in early November, with fierce early fighting taking place in and around Humera.

After Tigrayan forces withdrew, the Amhara regional government raced into western Tigray to assert control.

Amhara security forces dismantled TPLF monuments and occupied TPLF-era military camps.

Amhara officials established local government offices to collect taxes and run schools where students could learn in Amharic.

They also allocated land and homes to thousands of Amharas arriving from elsewhere in Ethiopia and — in the case of men like Asfaw — even farther afield.

Farmer Seyoum Berihun is among the new arrivals who marvels at Amharas’ sudden change of fortune.

“For me, personally, I have just started living now,” he said.

“Even if I am 58, I consider my former life to be a waste. Now I have started a new life, and I’m not even exaggerating.”

‘Survival struggle’

As Amharas have poured in, Tigrayan civilians have fled by the tens of thousands — either west into Sudan or east, deeper into Tigray.

The exodus has been so dramatic that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress in March that “acts of ethnic cleansing” had occurred.

Senior Amhara officials fervently deny this, yet they also stress they no longer consider western Tigray to be part of Tigray at all, claiming it will be governed by Amhara going forward.

During a recent visit by AFP journalists, local officials trotted out several remaining Tigrayan civilians to bolster their claim that no one was forced to leave.

Tesfaye Weldegebriel, 67, told AFP he feared for his life when fighting broke out last November.

Yet he said Amhara officials assured him he could stay and speculated that those who left did so because they had close ties to the TPLF.

“When one government leaves and another comes, you should welcome it joyfully,” he said.

But this version of events is difficult to square with myriad descriptions of violent, often deadly expulsions from western Tigray, and Tigrayan leaders have made clear they don’t buy it.

In a recent statement, Debretsion Gebremichael, head of Tigray’s pre-war government, indicated his forces would continue fighting until the region’s old borders were reaffirmed.

“Those who looted properties of the Tigray government, private citizens and businesspeople have to return the looted properties quickly,” he said.

“If not, we will make them.”

Meanwhile, Amhara leaders, emboldened by a fresh influx of federal soldiers in western Tigray, also appear to be preparing for a showdown.

On Twitter this week, Amhara regional president Agegnehu Teshager posted bank account details for supporters wanting to help fund coming hostilities against the TPLF.

The battle, he said, would be nothing less than a “survival struggle.”

Source: Voice of America

France’s recent decision to close some of its military bases and reduce the number of its troops in Mali has sparked mixed reaction from the local population.

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would start closing three military bases in northern Mali by the end of 2021.

“These closures will start in the second half of 2021 and be completed by early 2022,” Macron said at a press conference following a summit with the leaders of the G5 Sahel countries, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mauritania and Niger.

French forces have been deployed in Mali since 2013 as part of its effort in the fight against jihadist groups in the country’s north. France’s Operation Serval, later changed to Operation Barkhane, has since expanded to include other countries in the restive Sahel region.

“Our enemies have abandoned their territorial ambitions in favor of spreading their threat not only across the Sahel, but across all of West Africa,” the French president said.

France would reduce its forces to 2,500 to 3,000 troops. There are currently 5,000 French troops in the region.

Speaking to VOA, some Malian residents expressed their disappointment at France’s decision to reduce its military presence in the country.

“I am not for their departure,” said one resident from the city of Gao, who declined to be identified for fear of retribution from jihadist groups active in the region.

Gao was captured by militant groups in 2012. During a campaign the following year, the city was recaptured by French forces.

“They should keep troops to help our Malian troops that are deployed here,” the resident told VOA.

Another resident of Gao said most people of her region “want the French to stay here, because they are doing a huge service to the population, such as emergency management and providing security for us and our properties.”

Another female resident of the city said the departure of France’s Barkhane forces from parts of Mali would exacerbate the security situation in the entire country.

“Right now, we sleep in peace. But if Barkhane ever leaves, then we should leave this place as well,” she told VOA. “There is nothing else on which we can rely after Barkhane’s departure. They assist the population in many areas, and so their departure would cause us a lot of trouble.”

Other residents, however, believe the time has come for French troops to leave their country.

“I believe the French forces must go home, because they have been unable to accomplish what was expected from them,” said one resident from a town near Mali’s border with Niger.

“At their arrival, we thought they would provide security to our villages and cities, but we have realized that the situation in worsening,” he added.

Another resident, who also asked to remain anonymous, told VOA that most Malians wish to see all French troops leave Mali.

“We will take care of this crisis among ourselves. We trust the Malian armed forces. Malians are very tired of this situation,” he said. “There is all kind of military troop presence in Mali, but the situation is not improving at all.”

Continued cooperation

During last week’s press conference, the French president insisted that his decision to reduce the number of troops in Mali does not mean his country would abandon its African partners in the battle against militants linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State terror groups.

Some analysts say Operation Barkhane has played a crucial role on the ground in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations in Mali, and in the provision of intelligence and logistics across the Sahel.

“I expect that even with the end of Operation Barkhane, quite a bit of counterterrorism efforts will continue to focus on the area where the borders of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger meet,” said Daniel Eizenga, a Research Fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies in Washington.

He said military cooperation between the French and the regional armed forces, namely those of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, has significantly enhanced the capacity of those forces to react quickly on the ground, reducing the threats and risks taken by their soldiers and improving their operational effectiveness.

“Without joint operations, intelligence and logistics support, the armed forces will face a more challenging struggle against the militant Islamist groups operating in the region,” Eizenga told VOA.

Changing strategy

With reducing troops and bases in Mali, France plans to build its presence into a European task force named Takuba, which has been established as a training operation for Mali.

“France continues to be a military reality in the region,” said Bakary Sambe, director of Timbuktu Institute for Peace Studies in Dakar, Senegal.

“France has no interest in removing its forces from the Sahel, it’s just that it’s changing its overall counterterrorism strategy in the broader region,” he told VOA in a phone interview.

With increased militant attacks in Burkina Faso, Sambe said, Islamist groups have been trying to expand their presence in other countries in West Africa, including Ivory Coast.

“Terrorist groups in the Sahel are no longer staying in their traditional strongholds. They keep moving to expand their criminal networks and economic activities,” he said.

Source: Voice of America

Rioting and looting in South Africa continued Wednesday, raising the death toll to more than 70 as defiant protesters ignored government demands to end violence.

The unrest was sparked last week when former president Jacob Zuma began serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court after he failed to attend a hearing to answer questions about corruption allegations.

Protests over Zuma’s arrest quickly evolved into mass civil unrest, the country’s worst in years.

Looters continued to vandalize shopping malls, other retail outlets and businesses in the province of Gauteng, which includes the country’s largest city of Johannesburg. Security forces seemed unable to prevent the looting, which also continued in Zuma’s home province, KwaZulu-Natal and spread overnight to the provinces of Mpumalanga and Northern Cape, according to police.

In the coastal city of Durban, a long line of cars formed outside warehouses full of household appliances, food and other goods. One of the warehouses was on fire, but looters kept streaming in.

The leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen, visited Durban to assess the situation.

“It’s actually quite terrifying to see the devastation, the complete destruction,” he said. “Also the despair of many of the communities here who feel completely abandoned by the security services, and who’ve been left to fend for themselves. Bodies are lying in the road. This is clearly a situation that is not under control; it’s not getting any better.”

Free State University chancellor Bonang Mohale had a similar view.

“It’s heartbreaking to see people strolling casually with empty trolleys; when they come back, the trolleys are the size of a triple-story house and they take it to cars that are parked, as if this is normal Sunday afternoon shopping,” he said. “People carrying refrigerators on their heads; an entire cow on their shoulders. Flat screens, everywhere!”

Mohale said the county is now paying for the ruling African National Congress party’s continued protection of corrupt and incompetent leaders.

“Everywhere, for the last 15 years, we see black graduates roaming the streets absolutely hopelessly,” he said. “Inequality has widened. Racism is at an all-time high. Public schooling has collapsed. Public healthcare continues to fail the poor and the vulnerable. What were we expecting?”

Over the past few days, the state has deployed the army in Johannesburg, but there are no soldiers visible at places that continue to be attacked and pillaged in Durban and the nearby city of Pietermaritzburg. Security officials told VOA this is because they’ve received intelligence that mobs are now planning to attack key installations, such as harbors and airports, and the army is guarding those.

Steenhuisen said this is good… but not good enough.

“My real fear is that if we don’t contain the situation here in KwaZulu-Natal, this is going to spread like wildfire around the rest of the country,” he said.

The violence has further strained the country’s hospitals that are grappling with a third wave of COVID-19 infections. The National Hospital Network, which represents 241 public hospitals, said food and supplies of oxygen and drugs were nearing depletion.

The United Nations has voiced concern that transportation disruptions caused by the riots would worsen unemployment, poverty and inequality in the country.

Zuma was convicted of resisting a court order to testify in a state-backed investigation into allegations of corruption during his nine-year term as president that ended in 2018.

Zuma’s lawyer argued Monday before South Africa’s Constitutional Court that Zuma should have his sentence rescinded. Judges on the court said they would consider the arguments and announce their decision at a later date.

Source: Voice of America