French sources said that since July, Paris has suspended its military cooperation with Ethiopia, while the Ethiopian army continues combing operations in the Renaissance Dam area, fearing an attack by the Tigray Liberation Front fighters.
And the French press agency quoted sources as saying today, Friday, that Paris had suspended military cooperation with Addis Ababa since last July.
During an official visit to Ethiopia in March 2019, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he had concluded a framework defense agreement with Ethiopia for "specific support from France" regarding the establishment of an Ethiopian navy in a country that does not have access to the sea.
In the same context, the US State Department announced that the US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, will travel - on Sunday - to Ethiopia on a visit aimed at discussing ways to encourage peace and support stability in the Horn of Africa.
Prime Minister's Press Secretary Pliny Seyoum accuses the Tigray Liberation Front of sending waves of civilian militants to Afar and Amhara (Anatolia)
combing the Renaissance Dam area
On the other hand, Colonel Seif Anji, Commander-in-Chief of the 22nd Battalion Command Center and Coordination Task Force in the Mutkal region, said that the Ethiopian Defense Forces located in the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam area are successfully carrying out their operations in searching for and destroying the recruits of the Military Council of the Tigray Liberation Front.
He added that "foreign enemies and mercenaries of the Tigray People's Liberation Front who seek to destabilize peace in the region and disrupt the construction process will not be able to stop the construction of the dam."
He explained that the army is fully prepared not only to deter the "terrorists" and their envoys, but also for any internal and external enemies operating in the region.
Earlier, the federal army denied the control of the Tigray Front over more areas in the Amhara region, noting that its forces inflicted heavy losses on the front and regained several areas, including Lafto, Quba and Morsi.
On Thursday, the Ethiopian government accused the Tigray Liberation Front of "sending waves of civilian militants" to the Afar and Amhara regions;
It attacked civilians and "practiced murder, rape, and pillage of communities."
The United Nations asserts that 400,000 people live in famine conditions in conflict areas, but aid convoys face security challenges and bureaucratic obstacles.