In the spotlight: the war behind closed doors in Ethiopia

Audio 04:11

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appears in a video posted on his twitter account, dressed in military fatigues, Monday, November 26, 2021. © AP

By: Frédéric Couteau Follow

4 min

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Away from microphones and cameras, Ethiopia's civil war continues.

A war which " 

threatens to destabilize the whole region

 ", worries

Le Point Afrique

.

The conflict, which has lasted for a year, " 

escalated a notch in November, when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced his intention to join the front himself to put down the Tigrayan insurgents. He called on the Ethiopians to "push back and bury the terrorists of the FLPT, the Popular Liberation Front of Tigray". This conflict has so far claimed several thousand lives and two million displaced. Half a million people are said to be at risk of starvation, while warning signs of ethnic cleansing multiply. The Tigray Defense Forces affiliated with the FLPT recently recorded significant military victories in Amhara and Afar provinces, south of Tigray. They are therefore inexorably approaching Addis Ababa.

 The whole question now is whether they can take over the capital. 

Read also: Ethiopia: the government continues its progress in the north of the country

Diplomatic stalemate

For the moment, further notes

Le Point Afrique

, the international community remains powerless ... “ 

Despite the economic sanctions and the attempts at dialogue, in particular initiated by Jeffrey Feltman, the American special envoy for the Horn of Africa, the Ethiopian regime remains determined. While the crackdown on Tigrayans suspected of links to the insurgency appears to be intensifying, especially in Addis Ababa and the Amhara region, the efforts of the international community, including the African Union, appear more than ever in dead end. We can therefore fear a generalized conflagration of the country, is

alarmed

The Africa Point.

A worsening of the conflict could lead a significant number of Ethiopians to flee to neighboring countries, already in the grip of serious economic and political difficulties

.

"

Increased repression

The

Africa XXI

news site

 was able to investigate this repression of the Tigrayans in the Wolqayt-Tegedé region, in the far north-west of the country, a region near Tigray and on the border with Eritrea.

According to the special envoy of

Africa XXI

, the Amharas, who control this area, are carrying out a veritable " 

ethnic cleansing

 ", a " 

fierce repression

 " exerted against Tigrayan civilians, forced to leave their village or else executed.

Digital war

In addition, this Ethiopian conflict is also unfolding through the Internet. This is what

Le Monde Afrique

notes

 : “ 

on the sidelines of the conflict that has torn apart northern Ethiopia since November 2020, another war is being played out on social networks,

points out the newspaper.

Its promoters, whether they are affiliated with the insurgents of the Tigray People's Liberation Front or the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his allies, have transposed their conflict on the Web with great blows of disinformation. A battle of words likely to have very real consequences,

worries

Le Monde Afrique, while "possible crimes against humanity" have already been committed in the province of Tigray, according to the United Nations. Main propaganda channels, Facebook and Twitter are directly singled out. Frances Haugen, the former Facebook employee behind the leak of internal documents known as the "Facebook Files", told a US Senate committee last October that she feared the "destructive impact" that risked having the platform on an already extremely polarized Ethiopian society. These fears are justified in particular by the company's difficulties in moderating messages from groups speaking local languages ​​such as Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromo or Somali.

 "

However, continues

Le Monde Afrique,

Facebook and Twitter remain “

 strongly criticized for their permissiveness, even if they have strengthened their control measures this fall.

 "

Conspiracy rhetorics

And for their part, the Addis Ababa authorities accuse the platforms of working for the insurgents.

“ 

Conspiracy rhetoric that has become familiar in Ethiopia.

"

Yet,

Le Monde Afrique

notes

," social networks are nevertheless massively used by the government in its war communication.

Abiy Ahmed, omnipresent, now often appears there in military fatigues, on the battlefield.

Digital campaigns are also flourishing there.

The latest, titled #NoMore ("Enough"), intends to simultaneously fight TPLF rebels, Western neocolonialism and diplomatic efforts calling for a ceasefire.

 "

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