Ethiopian Tigray forces say Reuters has released 1,000 captured soldiers

By Giulia Paravicini and George Publishers

OLBIA, Italy (Reuters) – Ethiopian forces in the northern Tigray region have released about 1,000 soldiers captured in recent fighting, his government party leader said, as both sides prepare to face court lands in the western part of the region.

Debretsion Gebremichael Tigray, head of the People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), told Reuters via satellite phone that 1,000 low-level soldiers had been released on Friday night.

“There are still more than 5,000 (soldiers) with us, and we will keep the high-ranking officials who will be on trial,” he said.

He said the soldiers were taken to the southern border of Tigray with the Amhara region on Friday, but did not say who received them or how the release was negotiated.

Reuters was unable to confirm his account independently.

A military spokesman said he was not able to comment immediately on Saturday, and a spokesman for the Amhara regional administration said he had no information about the release.

Officials in the offices of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray government working group did not respond to calls they wanted.

Fighting in Tigray began in November, when the government accused the TPLF of attacking military bases across the region, the party denied. The government gave the victory three weeks later when it took control of the regional capital Mekelle, but the TPLF continued to fight.

In a dramatic turnaround, the TPLF took over most of Mekelle and Tigray in late June after the government pulled out its soldiers and declared a unilateral ceasefire.

However, the TPLF vowed to continue fighting until it regained control of the disputed territories south and west of Tigray, until allies from the government in Amhara were kidnapped in the fighting.

Abiy said this week that the military will repel any threat from the TPLF by effectively suspending the self-declared truce. Amhara and three other regions said they were mobilizing forces to support the national army in the fight against the TPLF.

Thousands of people were killed in the fighting; About 2 million have been displaced and more than 5 million are relying on emergency food aid.

On Saturday, the Ethiopian Broadcasting State quoted Getu Argaw Debel, the Addis Ababa police commissioner, as saying that 323 people suspected of defending the TPLF, possessing weapons or violating the constitution had been arrested, among other charges.

Debel said police have also closed the suspects’ businesses while they are investigating.

Reuters reported this week that police had arrested hundreds of Tigraans in Addis Ababa since late June after federal government troops lost control of the capital Tigray.

On Friday, the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry issued a statement accusing aid groups of arming rebels.

“Some aid agencies have been actively involved in a destructive manner. We have also confirmed that they are being used as cover for aid and are arming rebel groups to prolong conflicts,” he said.

No groups were identified in the statement and there was no immediate response from agencies operating in Tigray. The humanitarian organization OCHA of the United Nations did not respond to the request for a response.

The UN has said it is blocking much-needed assistance at checkpoints as convoys travel through government territories. Ethiopian authorities have said the aid should be checked.

(Giulia Paravicini reports on George Obuluts of Olbia and Nairobi; additional news by Tiksa Negeri; writing by George Obuluts; published by Katharine Houreld, Frances Kerry and Daniel Wallis)