The Ethiopian Defense Forces announced that they had thwarted an attempt by an armed group in the Al-Mahal area of ​​the Benishangul region near the Sudanese border, which was seeking to disrupt the construction of the Renaissance Dam, and said that this group was affiliated with the Tigray Liberation Front, which also borders with Sudan.

Colonel Seif Engi, the military official in the Mutakal area in Benishangul region, said that the defense forces were able to kill 50 people, and seriously wounded 70 others, as a result of confrontations between an armed group and the army that protects the area around the Renaissance Dam.

The largest in Africa, on which the Ethiopian authorities rely a lot to overcome the problem of generating electricity in the country.

Colonel Engi added that anti-vehicle mines and various types of explosives were seized from the armed group, and said that the latter, which was eliminated, belongs to the Tigray Territory Liberation Front.

The Ethiopian military official explained that the army is closely following and monitoring the border areas between Ethiopia and Sudan to protect the Renaissance Dam and the region from any internal and external threats.

field progress

These developments come at a time when the Tigray Liberation Front has made remarkable progress since last June at the expense of the Ethiopian federal forces, regained control of most parts of the region, and since July 22 began incursions into the Afar and Amhara regions adjacent to Tigray.


This military advance encouraged the Oromo Liberation Army rebels to announce their alliance with the Tigray Liberation Front on August 11, and confirm the presence of other groups involved in similar discussions, including the "Bani Shanqul Territory Liberation Movement", which is hostile to the government of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abi Ahmed.

On April 19, armed men from the Benishangul Liberation Movement were able to take complete control of Sidal district in the region, after 200 Ethiopian soldiers from Benishangul rebelled, and seized weapons for the army in battles in the region, and a number of people joined them.

humanitarian situation

Yesterday, Thursday, the United Nations warned that the humanitarian situation in the Ethiopian border region of Tigray "is on the way to a dangerous and fatal deterioration", referring the matter to a blockade that prevents humanitarian aid from reaching the region.

Violence has gripped northern Ethiopia since last November, when the prime minister sent troops to Tigray to overthrow the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the ruling party of the region, in response to attacks on army camps.

Although the Ethiopian Prime Minister - winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 - pledged a quick victory, the war continued for months, creating a humanitarian crisis in Tigray;

It left 400,000 people in famine-like conditions, according to the United Nations.