Ethiopia: Al Jazeera "800 'Eritrea-Backed' Fighters Surrender"

Addis Ababa (HAN) September 19, 2015 – Public Diplomacy and Regional Security Initiative News.  Hundreds of Ethiopian fighters have fled their base in Eritrea and surrendered to authorities, handing over their weapons, the Ethiopian foreign ministry said.

In a statement late on Tuesday, the foreign ministry said that Tigray People’s Democratic Movement (TPDM) leader Mola Asgedom and “nearly 800 fighters” crossed to Ethiopia on Sunday, having fought their way past Eritrean troops.

“We came to the conclusion that an armed struggle was meaningless,” Mola told the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, adding the group had been in contact with Addis Ababa for over a year before deserting.

“Bringing about good governance and democracy to Ethiopia were the main objective of our armed struggle,” Mola said according to the AFP news agency.

“We have also come to realise the economic progress Ethiopia has achieved and the destabilising agenda espoused by the Eritrean regime and other groups.”

The broadcaster’s report displayed footage of a large group of young men in fatigues, wielding AK-47 rifles and grenade launchers, while camped in an open field near Ethiopia’s border with Sudan.

The little-known TPDM said it launched a rebelion14 years ago seeking to “establish a popular democratic government” in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia has previously dismissed the group as “puppets” acting under the orders of arch-foe Eritrea, with whom it is embroiled in a border dispute.

Authorities in Eritrea’s capital Asmara were not immediately available for comment.

Disputed village

Eritrea and Ethiopia routinely accuse each other of backing armed groups trying to destabilise and topple the other’s government – a legacy from the two-year war they fought in the late 1990s.

Eritreans make up the third largest group among the refugees and migrants heading for Europe.

The demarcation of their shared border is yet to be resolved, with Addis Ababa insisting on a negotiated settlement.

Eritrea wants Ethiopia to pull troops out of the disputed village of Badme before normalising relations, citing a decision by a Hague-based boundary commission which awarded it in 2002.
Movement Leader Lauds Group Warm Welcome

Chairman of the so called Tigray People’s Democratic Movement, Molla Asgedom, who led fighters of the movement from Eritrea. Sources: This story from Al Jazeera.

 

Related Regional Security Photo: Ambassador Berhane holds talks with New Zealand Special Envoy: The Special Envoy of New Zealand, Sir Jim Mclay, met with State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Berhane Gebre-Christos on Tuesday (September 15). His last visit to Ethiopia was to participate in the Joint Consultative Meeting between the Security Council and the AU peace and Security Council.


HAN & Geeska Afrika Online (1985-2015), the oldest free independent Free Press in the region, brings together top journalists from across the Horn of Africa. Including Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Oromo, Amhara, Somali, Afar and Harari. Plus, we have daily translations from 150 major news organizations in the Middle East and East African regions. Contact at news@geeskaafrika.com


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One response to “Ethiopia: Al Jazeera "800 'Eritrea-Backed' Fighters Surrender"”

  1. mekeret

    Last time the UN, BBC and others were saying there were about 20, 000 of them in Eritrea training camps.
    How come now they are only 800.
    What about the other 19, 200 of them? Still in Eritrea?
    The number we say is not more than 200.
    which one is true???

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