Ethiopia: authorities launch media counter-offensive against Tigrayan rebels

Ethiopian Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen on September 25, 2021 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

AP - Kena Betancur

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

The Ethiopian government led a media counter-offensive on Wednesday September 14, even though it had not previously commented on the latest developments in the war fought in Tigray.

His goal: to defend his point of view, while two drone strikes caused victims Monday and Wednesday in Mekele, capital of the province, the day after a proposal to resume dialogue by the Tigrayans.

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Breaking a four-day silence, the Ethiopian authorities' response was clearly coordinated.

On Wednesday, September 14, when it was not during an interview with a major media, several ambassadors appeared with their meeting of the day: an American senator, a delegation of Western ambassadors, a senior official the UN or the European Union... For his part, the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, was received in Brussels by the director for Africa of the EU's external action service.

And each time, the same message was sent, according to the public news agency ENA: the Tigrayan rebels " 

 ," the diplomats said.

Moreover, simultaneously, the Fana news agency mentioned a family of five people killed in a Tigrayan artillery fire in the Amhara region.

And the Voice of America's Amharic service, citing local sources, spoke of civilians being killed by Tigrayans in the towns of Kobo and Aradom, offsetting the emotion aroused by the

.

► Also to listen: Bombings in Ethiopia: "It's an arm of honor addressed to the international community"

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