An internal conflict in Ethiopia is being used to resolve a long-running territorial dispute between two of its northern states.
Forces in the Amhara region have taken control of several areas of Tigray after supporting federal troops who organized a raid on its neighbor’s territory, said Gizachew Muluneh, a spokesman for the Amhara government. Fighting has continued in Tigray since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the army to retaliate after forces loyal to Tigray’s ruling party attacked a military camp in November.
The land “was taken by force and has now been forcibly returned,” Gizachew said. “Although it was not our original goal, it happened by default.”
Amhara, one of the two largest ethnic groups in Ethiopia, claims that the disputed territory falls under their jurisdiction. They were forced to relinquish power in 1991, after an alliance led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front took control of the country and reconfigured it into nine semi-autonomous states. A tenth state was established last year.
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The Abiy administration has approved the reincorporation of disputed territories, including Welkait, Tegede, Humera, Telemte and Raya districts, into Amhara, according to Gizachew. A decision is now awaited from the Federation House to legalize the process, and in the meantime Amhara will administer the areas, he said.
Occupy the Country
Appeals to the president of the Federation Chamber, Adan Farah, went unanswered. Redwan Hussein, a spokesman for the government task force, and Billene Seyoum, a spokesman for Abiy, declined to comment.
Abraha Desta, a member of the Tigray interim administration appointed by Abiy after the raid, opposed a redetermination of borders. In a Facebook post, he called on the government to “stop the atrocities committed by the Amhara special forces who took advantage of the security gap” to “forcefully invade and occupy our land.”
Tens of thousands of people have left the disputed territory. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress last week that they had been forcibly displaced in a campaign that meant ethnic cleansing – an accusation that the Ethiopian government has dismissed as “false.”
Read more: Ethiopia considers US claims of ethnic cleansing “false”
Aid agencies working in the region have confirmed that Tigrayan bus loads have been forcibly removed from parts of western Tigray, many have been killed and houses, businesses and farms have been looted and destroyed.
Ethiopia’s ambassador to Kenya, Meles Alem, told reporters on Tuesday that humanitarian assistance had been provided in most of Tigray. He also rejected a report by Médecins Sans Frontières, according to which most health units in the region do not function normally.
– With the assistance of David Herbling
(Updates with comments from the Ethiopian diplomat in the last paragraph)