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Fighting in Ethiopia’s Afar forces 54,000 people to flee
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ADDIS ABABA, 23 July 2021, (TON): Attacks by Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia’s Afar region have forced more than 54,000 people from their homes, an official said, as tens of thousands of people rallied in the capital to support the prime minister.
According to Afar regional spokesperson Ahmed Koloyta “Tigrayan fighters, who want the Ethiopian government to accept their terms before talks on a cease-fire could begin, have taken control of three districts in Afar this week.”
The region is of strategic importance because the main road and railway linking Addis Ababa, landlocked Ethiopia’s capital, to the sea port of Djibouti run through it.
Ahmed quoted some of the displaced people as saying Tigrayan fighters had burned houses, looted properties and killed civilians.
He provided no evidence and Reuters could not verify his claims independently.
Getachew Reda, spokesman for the Tigrayan forces, did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the accusations.
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