Ethiopia says about 300 Tigray rebel fighters have surrendered

Tigray, which had about 6 million inhabitants before the war, is economically depleted, with several hundred thousand people still displaced.(AFP) — Some 300 members of Ethiopia’s Tigray rebel forces have surrendered to authorities, the federal army said Friday, as fears mount of a return to the conflict that devastated the region from 2020 to 2022.Both the government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, have massed troops along the northern state’s border in recent months, fueling fears of a return to the war, which killed about 600,000 people, according to the African Union.Federal authorities carried out several drone strikes in the region in August and September, targeting military positions, according to ACLED, a nongovernmental organization that tracks conflicts. Officials have not commented on the strikes.“Nearly 300 TPLF fighters surrendered to forces stationed along the Tekeze corridor,” the federal army said on Facebook, referring to the river in northwestern and western Tigray.TPLF Vice President Amanuel Assefa told AFP he could not “comment on this kind of military issue.”The fighters who surrendered included divisional officers who “handed over more than 280 individual and crew-served weapons” and various types of ammunition, the army said, publishing photos of the weapons and soldiers.According to the military, the men were “unhappy” with the “TPLF’s preparations for war.”“They also said they opposed what they described as efforts by TPLF leaders to recruit young Tigrayans and send them to war to protect themselves from accountability,” the statement said.AFP and Human Rights Watch have reported a forced recruitment campaign by the regional Tigrayan authorities, citing young men who escaped training camps after being taken there against their will or fled their communities to avoid roundups.Federal forces also claimed the men said they opposed the alliance between neighboring Eritrea and the TPLF and described it as “harmful.”For months, the government has accused the TPLF of developing closer ties with Eritrea, which gained independence in 1993 and has long had tense relations with Addis Ababa.Amanuel has previously said he would ally with “anyone who fights the federal government.”The TPLF, which Addis Ababa considers illegitimate, took power in 1991 and ran the government until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s appointment in 2018.Tigray, which had about 6 million inhabitants before the war, is economically depleted, with several hundred thousand people still displaced.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads