Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

PawParole posted:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/18/ethiopia-both-warring-sides-claim-military-gains-as-fighting-rag

Ethiopia: Both sides claim military gains as fighting rages

We�re inflicting heavy defeats on all fronts against the forces that came to attack us,� Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael said in a statement, referring to federal forces. �I call upon all the Tigrayan people to go out en masse to drive out the invaders.�

However, army chief Berhanu Jula said in a statement of his own that Ethiopia�s military was �winning on all fronts� and TPLF troops were �in a state of desperation�.

�The TPLF�s plan to drag Ethiopia into civil war and tear it apart has failed. It is currently in a desperate mode as it is surrounded,� Berhanu said.

the government later claimed to be marching on the regional capital Mekelle and to hold the town of Mehoni, 125km (78 miles) to the south. It also accused the TPLF of destroying four bridges leading into Mekelle in an attempt to hold back federal troops.

But diplomats say it is far from clear if federal forces will be able to secure a quick victory. The TPLF has considerable military assets and an estimated 250,000 troops fighting on mountainous terrain they know well.

Ethiopia�s military is estimated at 150,000 troops, a figure that does not include special forces and militias.

it's more spoken in Eritrea. It's a liturgical language to most Somali people.

150,000 is a really small military for a country of over 100 million people. I know that militias are doing some of the fighting, but even so, why so few personnel, even if a lot of Tigray soldiers defected?

# ¿ Nov 21, 2020 03:33

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:56

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

The Ethiopian army killed Seyoum Mesfin, who was the country's foreign minister 1991-2010. I can see this getting a lot worse.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2021 23:01

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

quote:

NAIROBI, Kenya � Ethiopian officials and allied militia fighters are leading a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing in Tigray, the war-torn region in northern Ethiopia, according to a confidential United States government report obtained by The New York Times.

The report, written earlier this month, documents in stark terms a land of looted houses and deserted villages where tens of thousands of people are unaccounted for.

Fighters and officials from the neighboring Amhara region of Ethiopia, who entered Tigray in support of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, are �deliberately and efficiently rendering Western Tigray ethnically homogeneous through the organized use of force and intimidation,� the report says.

�Whole villages were severely damaged or completely erased,� the report said.

In a second report, published Friday, Amnesty International said that soldiers from Eritrea had systematically killed hundreds of Tigrayan civilians in the ancient city of Axum over a 10-day period in November, shooting some of them in the streets.

The worsening situation in Tigray � where Mr. Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, launched a surprise military offensive in November � is shaping up to be the Biden administration�s first major test in Africa. Former President Donald J. Trump paid little attention to the continent and never visited it, but President Joseph R. Biden has promised a more engaged approach.

In a call with President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya on Thursday, Mr. Biden brought up the Tigray crisis. The two leaders discussed �the deteriorating humanitarian and human rights crises in Ethiopia�s Tigray region and the need to prevent further loss of life and ensure humanitarian access,� a White House statement said.

As far as I can tell there's still no reporters in western Tigray Region. I guess TPLF has sued for peace but that doesn't seem to be a big priority for Abiy.

edited out wrong stuff

Vivian Darkbloom fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Feb 27, 2021

# ¿ Feb 27, 2021 04:02

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

Are the Eritreans still running around in Tigray? Journalists still seem to be locked out of the hinterland but it sure sounds awful. TPLF putting up a decent fight too.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2021 05:34

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

Starting to think there's a potential issue with every ethnic region having their own official militia.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2021 23:00

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

The Bureaucrat From Buffalo Who Pushed Somalia to the Brink

quote:

NAIROBI, Kenya � During his years as an administrator at the Department of Transportation in upstate New York, the Somali refugee turned U.S. citizen earned a master�s degree in American Studies, imbibing democratic values he hoped to one day export back to his homeland.

That dream came true for Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed in 2017, when he returned to Somalia and was elected president in a surprise victory that evinced high hopes he might reform � even transform � his dysfunctional, war-weary country.

But those aspirations have crumbled since Mr. Mohamed failed to hold elections when his four-year term ended in February, then moved to extend his rule by two years � a step many Somalis viewed as a naked power grab.

A furious political dispute turned violent on Sunday when a series of gunfights broke out between rival military factions in the capital, Mogadishu, evoking fears that Somalia, after years of modest yet gradual progress, could descend into the kind of clan-based bloodshed that ripped it apart in the 1990s.

Now Mr. Mohamed�s democratic credentials lie in tatters and he is in an open confrontation with his former ally, the United States, where he still has a family home. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has publicly threatened to sanction Mr. Mohamed and other Somali officials, and this week American officials reiterated calls for Somalia to hold elections immediately.

# ¿ May 1, 2021 04:23

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

PawParole posted:

incredibly inaccurate article like all foreign news about Somalia. There were no clashes at all, and no one paid attention to what was being tweeted by an embassy based in an different nation. Rather, the moment was decided by the n&n loyal regional governments switching sides.

This could be solved if they hired a person who speaks Somali.

Yeah, NYT seems to pull this kind of thing a lot. Sorry.

# ¿ May 5, 2021 20:29

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

I mean, it's a lot more plausible than tourists going to Salisbury.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2021 18:28

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

Has the international community or AU done anything about the civil war in Ethiopia? Abiy seems to be facing basically no consequences.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2021 21:20

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

https://twitter.com/TelegraphWorld/status/1434532668910325769

Can't comment on the source. This is near the tri-point of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Eritrea.

# ¿ Sep 6, 2021 06:12

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 16:56

Vivian Darkbloom: Jul 14, 2004

How the hell is the Nigerian military (far larger than other ECOWAS states) supposed to attack Niger, when even northern Nigeria isn't under control? It seems likely to be a horrible quagmire rivalling the South Africans in Angola or Libya's attempt to occupy Chad. Even if they waltz in and easily rescue Bazoum, they would be foreigners propping up a local leader which is a recipe for insurgency.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2023 18:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Sub-Saharan Africa: They're Conflict Minerals, Marie