Kidnappings, looting cited in Ethiopia's Tigray after truce

Lead negotiator for Ethiopia's government, Redwan Hussein, left, and lead Tigray negotiator Getachew Reda, right, sign documents during the peace talks in Pretoria, South Africa on Nov. 2, 2022. [AP Photo]

Both the Alamata resident and the former regional official, like some others who spoke to AP, requested anonymity because of safety concerns as well as fear of reprisals.

The continuing presence of Eritrean troops in Tigray remains a sore point in the ongoing peace process, and the U.S. has called for their withdrawal from the region.

The military spokesman and government communications minister in Ethiopia didn't respond to a request for comment. Eritrea's embassy in Ethiopia also didn't respond.

Eritrea, which shares a border with Tigray, was not mentioned in the text of the cease-fire deal. The absence of Eritrea from cease-fire negotiations had raised questions about whether that country's repressive government, which has long considered Tigray authorities a threat, would respect the agreement.

A subsequent implementation accord, signed by military commanders in Kenya, states that the Tigray forces will disband their heavy weapons "concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-(federal) forces from the region."

Yet aid officials, diplomats and others inside Tigray say Eritrean forces are still active in several areas of Tigray, hurting the peace process. Eritrean troops have been blamed for some of the conflict's worst abuses, including gang rapes.

Tigrai Television, a regional broadcaster based in the Tigrayan capital of Mekele, reported on Nov. 19 that Eritrean soldiers killed 63 civilians, including 10 children, in an area called Egela in central Tigray. That report cited witnesses including one who said affected communities were being prevented from burying their dead.