As renewed fighting has threatened a fresh humanitarian crisis in the northern region of Ethiopia, reports are emerging that a new alliance of armed groups in Tigray has been forcibly recruiting men and boys to its ranks. Renewed conflict erupted on 23 September between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules the region, shattering the fragile Pretoria peace agreement signed between the two sides in November 2022. The latest fighting started after months of escalating tensions when the TPLF launched an attack in what it claims was a response to drone strikes by the federal government.
Witnesses who spoke to the Guardian described a broad campaign of forced recruitment in Tigray, targeting men and boys between the ages of 15 and 65. The Eritrean Defence Forces and Amhara militias, which committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during the 2020-22 conflict, have switched allegiance and are now fighting in support of the TPLF. Along with this new alliance, testimonies of forced recruitment, child soldiers and fresh humanitarian crises are emerging out of the already battered region.
Gezu*, 34, who fought with the Tigrayan forces in the 2020-22 war, lost many of his friends on the battlefield and was grateful to survive the deadly conflict. He was planning to start a family when he received a call from the TPLF authorities to join their armed group after the latest outbreak of hostilities. I didn’t want to leave my home town until things started getting worse.” In the past few months, Tigrayans with the means to leave have been heading for the capital, Addis Ababa, fearing that war was coming.
But on 23 September, Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to and from the Tigray region, stranding many people, after Tigrayan forces seized the airport in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray region. Solomon*, a 52-year-old man who was able to flee to Addis Ababa, said: “The main targets are those between the ages of 15 and 40. I have seen the armed group of the TPLF rounding up people as young as 15 and 16 at gunpoint from the streets and public transportation areas.
The officers don’t care whatever internal disease you have; they forcefully recruit anyone whose hands, eyes and feet work.” Ephrem, 40, is a father of three who, fearing conscription, was planning to leave the region weeks before the fresh fighting erupted. The kids cry fearing that I will be rounded up from the street. It is devastating; no one wants to join the war,” he said.
The Tigray region has been under siege for the past week, when citizens’ bank accounts were abruptly frozen by the federal government, leaving people unable to withdraw their money. The banks have since reopened with a daily withdrawal limit of 2,000 birr (£9) and with long queues forming outside. Negus*, an elderly man in Mekelle, said: “We don’t know for how long the siege and the war are going to stay.
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