Eritrea soldiers mobilize civilians to join Ethiopia's Tigray conflict - sources

Eritrean soldiers are captured on a hidden camera at a checkpoint in the hills above Adigrat, as they block access to the road to Axum. [CNN photo]

NAIROBI, Kenya - The Eritrean troops fighting in Tigray are currently mobilizing civilians to join them on the battlefield, hiding in the pretext that the country's territorial integrity and sovereignty are under threat from the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF], which is war with Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF].

With the international community calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and immediate exit of Eritrean troops from the Tigray region, the Eritrean troops are currently mobilizing civilians to join them, which could further escalate the situation in the Tigray region.

Multiple sources told the BBC that women are not spared with the elderly people being detained to that their children could be easily forced to join the war in Ethiopia's Tigray region. The sources spoke in confidence given the authoritarian regime in Tigray.

"As many ignored the call-up, the round-up has been intensified," a source said, adding that wives have also been detained after their husbands tried to avoid conscription.

Across the country, the administration of Isaias Afwerki had planted checkpoints with searches also intensified in the villages. The crackdown is also visible in Asmara and the rural villages where the military is also confiscating cattle in case they miss their target.

There is no word from the government but last month, Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said that a "tiny number" of reservists had been called up, denying that the entire population had been mobilized.

Some analysts believe the conflict is worse than the Ukraine-Russia war and it has been overlooked by the world. The Eritrean troops are fighting alongside ENDF against the TPLF. Humanitarian conflict is slowly emerging with various teams struggling to reach vulnerable people due to restrictions from Addis Ababa.

A source in Eritrea said the authorities were trying to "stir emotions" at public meetings, linking their military intervention to "the existence and sovereignty of the nation", and saying that the TPLF "must be buried".

Last week, fighting was reported in many border areas, including Adigrat, Rama, Shiraro, and Zalambesa. But many Eritreans have resisted the latest call-up, saying they do not want to die in what they see as a needless war.

Elderly men have also "been forced to be on a war footing in many areas and in most cases, the operation of the conscription is being carried out arbitrarily", one source said.

The Eritreans in the diaspora have expressed concerns back home while asking the international community to chip in and curb the ongoing mobilization, which they insist would be detrimental to integration within the Horn of Africa nation.

Authorities are also refusing to issue shopping coupons - used to buy basic commodities like sugar and oil at discounted prices - until families heed the call-up, sources added.

'Hiding someone is treason' "What they had been doing in the countryside, they have started in the capital, abusing families with the local administration coupons, licenses, and so on," a source told the BBC.

Residents have been brought to the offices of local administrations, and warned that "hiding one's children or husband, or cooperating in desertion is considered as treason".

"They are putting a lot of stress on the people," the source further told BBC.

GAROWE ONLINE