Where the Tigray forces will move to after full withdrawal from frontlines?

A military parade by heavily armed elite members of Tigray regional state’s special forces in the streets of Mekelle, the capital, prior to the celebrations on February 11/2020 of TPLF’s 45th founding anniversary. Image: Social Media

MEKELLE, Ethiopia - The TPLF says it will retreat to a camp after withdrawal from the frontline in the Tigray region, a move which shall allow them to regroup and reflect some of the gains and losses and both parties prepare to implement the peace deal which was signed a few weeks ago.

At Pretoria and Nairobi, African Union through former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta, TPLF was able to reach an agreement with the Ethiopian government effectively ending the war which had lasted for slightly over two years.

While Eritrean troops are yet to withdraw and disengage from the Tigray region, TPLF has already started the implementation of the peace deal for the "sake of the people" noting that the region is yearning for peace and stability after two years of bloodshed.

"We have accomplished 65 percent disengagement of our army," Tadesse Wereda, commander-in-chief of the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] said in a video posted on the forces' official Facebook page late on Saturday.

"Our army left the front lines and moved to the place prepared for them to camp. Our forces withdrew on vehicles and on foot," he said without giving much information about the camps where the fighters will be hosted.

Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu did not respond to requests for comment. The war was first reported in November 2020 and a ceasefire was declared several times with both parties blatantly violating it with impunity.

Thousands of people have been killed in the war but the United Nations cannot give correct figures given that Ethiopian and Eritrean troops were killing people and dumping them in mass graves. However, it is estimated that millions of people have been displaced from their homes with the figure estimated to be 4 million.

Tadesse said TPLF was still maintaining fighters in some locations "where there is a presence of anti-peace forces". He did not name the locations.

"Our forces are still on the ground in those places due to the problems they [anti-peace forces] are creating for our people. But we have even reduced numbers of our forces in those places."

The federal government joint committee for withdrawal has sat and planned on how the peace deal will be implemented with the most immediate task being to find a way of withdrawing Eritrean soldiers. The soldiers have derailed the implementation of the deal, almost charging TPLF to return to the frontline.

GAROWE ONLINE