The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in northern Ethiopia has moved its troops to the south and west of the region in an attempt to reclaim Wolkait, Telemt and Raya areas which are currently under the control of the Amhara forces, witnesses told APA on Monday.
The controversial areas, which are referred to as historical lands of Ethnic Amhara people, had been annexed and incorporated as part of Tigray region by TPLF in 1991 when it took central power, defeating the military government.
The areas had been administered by the Tigray regional government until the Amhara forces regained them when the war between the TPLF and the federal government broke out in November 2020.
If the TPLF force, also known as the Tigray Defense Force (TDF), continues heading to those areas, it means that the TPLF will be opening another war against the Amhara region to seize the lands and create an independent country.
In November 2022, TPLF and the federal government agreed in Pretoria, South Africa to end the two-year fighting in which about 1 million people were killed.
The agreement required TPLF to disarm its armed combatants numbering 270, 000.
Two years after the agreement, the well organized TPLF force under the leadership of Debretsion Gebremichael, former president of the party, is vying to seize those lands back by force.
Reports indicated that only 5000 combatants were disarmed over the past months under the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) arrangement as agreed in the Pretoria ceasefire pact.
There have been concerns among peoples in Tigray region that the region could go back to war before recovering from the two years-war between the TPLF administration and federal government.
MG/abj/APA