The rebel ethnic Tigrean forces that are rebranded as “Tigray Defense Force” Tuesday suffered humiliating defeats in Kutaber, town about 418 kilometers north of Addis Ababa.
According to information reaching APA, over 2000 TPLF combatants were killed and over 900 captured in the battle near Kutaber, a town they controlled briefly.
The Ethiopian Defense Force, Amhara region special forces and FANO volunteers from Amhara region joined forces to check the TPLF advance to Dessie, and were able to do so.
APA has also confirmed that there was an air strike that targeted a locality in Kutaber where the TPLF forces were stationed soon after they entered the town.
Some leaders of the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA), a prominent opposition party in the region, were in Dessie where they have been carrying out a mobilization work to entice residents of the city not to abandon it and be displaced elsewhere.
A brief statement from the government communication office said that counter offensive by Ethiopian forces made it impossible for TPLF forces to escape in the areas of Worebabo, Tehuledere, Kutaber and Delanta.
However, the Ethiopian government has not disclosed the number of casualties on the side of Ethiopian forces.
Captured TPLF soldiers interviewed by government media said that they were recruited compulsorily and that they would be shot from the back if they tried to retreat.
MG/abj/APA