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This Timeline of the Tigray War (July 2021 to present) is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
A bridge across the Tekezé River was partly destroyed. [1]
Around 7000 captured Ethiopian soldiers passed through Mekelle, on the way to a prison north of the city. [2]
The Tigrayan government began mobilization to retake western Tigray from Amhara militias. [3]
Fiyelwiha battle. A large group of Amhara militia from Wereta and the surrounding Fogera district had been occupying the Dima district in Tigray. On 10 July, they were defeated by the Tigray Defence Forces (TDF); several Wereta militiamen, including the head of the Peace and Security Bureau of the Fogera woreda were killed on the battlefield in Fiyelwiha, a small town of the Dima district. [4]
Following defeats of the ENDF and Amhara Special Forces in the Tigray War, the Fano (militia) took revenge on Tigrayan citizens in towns in Amhara region, killing people and looting shops, for instance in Wereta, where three Tigrayans were killed. [5] In retaliation for the lost battle in Fiyelwiha the previous day, the Amhara Fano (militia) and mob murdered three civilians of Tigrayan origin in Wereta on 11 July 2021. [4] Social media displayed imagery of the corpses been drag behind three wheel motorcycles, called “bajaj”.
The TDF offensive started on 12 July 2021 resulted in Tigrayan forces capturing southern Tigray, including the towns of Alamata and Korem. [6] The TDF subsequently crossed the Tekezé River and advanced westward, capturing the town of Mai Tsebri and prompting Amhara officials to call on its militias to arm themselves and mobilize. [7]
The TDF says it released about 1,000 captured Ethiopian soldiers at the Amhara-Tigray border. [8]
A 10 vehicle convoy of the World Food Programme was attacked in the city of Semera in Afar region. [9]
After controlling Kobo in the Amhara Region, the TDF did not harm the civilian population. [10]
Regional forces from Oromia, Sidama, Somalia, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples are mobilizing to support the ENDF in and around Tigray. [11]
The TDF launched an invasion on Afar Region making gains and repelling an allied counterattack on the TDF lines reportedly capturing vehicles and equipment. [12] [13]
The Afar regional government claims that 20 civilians were killed and 70,000 civilians displaced in clashes between the TDF and an alliance of ENDF and regional forces in Afar. [14]
According to an Amnesty International report released on 16 February 2022, in late August and early September 2021, TPLF fighters "deliberately killed dozens of people, gang-raped dozens of women and girls — some as young as 14 — and looted private and public property in two areas of northern Ethiopia's Amhara region." [15]
Between 31 August and 4 September, TDF occupied the village of Chenna and adjacent areas in Dabat district. According to residents, TDF soldiers arrived demanding food, then killed those who resisted when fighters slaughtered their animals and looted their properties. [16] The soldiers also shot at nearby Ethiopian troops from residential positions, drawing return fire on the residents. [17] [18] Government officials reported that the TDF massacred 120-200 civilians in all. [19] [20] Doctors at the hospital in nearby Dabat town put the death toll at 125 and counting. [21] Human Rights Watch spoke to residents who witnessed 26 civilians summarily executed by the TDF in Chenna. [17] The TDF denied the massacre. [22] At least 30 women and girls were raped and sexually assaulted by TDF soldiers in and around Chenna during the occupation. [23]
Residents told VOA News by telephone that the TDF killed 600 civilians in Kobo district. [24] According to residents, on 9 September TDF fighters entered villages in Kobo searching for weapons but farmers repelled the soldiers from the villages. As TDF fighters withdrew from those villages to the town of Kobo, they killed men and teenage boys who were working their fields in retaliation along the way. [16] [17] Later that day, residents witnessed dozens of civilians summarily executed by TDF fighters in the town of Kobo. [17] [23] Spatiotemporal satellite imagery analysis corroborated witness testimony of new graves dug at two church compounds in the town to bury those summarily executed. [23]
On 15 September, the Ethiopian Walta TV interviewed groups of light-armed militiamen in the Zobel hills at the east of Kobo, threatening the vital north–south road across the central Ethiopian highlands. [25]
It was reported that at least 150 people had starved to death in Tigray territories in the month of August, and that at least 400,000 people had reached famine conditions. [26]
The BBC reported that aid trucks were unable to transport crucial supplies to Tigray, as hundreds of trucks that made the journey from other parts of Ethiopia between July and September did not return, due to lack of fuel and hassling of drivers. The United Nations aid chief, Martin Griffiths assumed that famine has taken hold in Tigray, where a nearly three-month long "de-facto blockade" restricted aid deliveries to 10% of what is needed in the war-torn region. [27]
Amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray, the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials, reportedly because of "meddling" in its internal affairs, giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country. [28] [29]
An intensive air campaign began against TDF positions in North Wollo by the Ethiopian Air Force. [30]
The Ethiopian Air Force killed three civilians in Mekelle. [31] That day, Tigray forces reported airstrikes in Mekelle, which were first denied, later admitted by the Ethiopian government. [32]
The Ethiopian Air Force carried out a second series of airstrikes targeting inhabited areas of Mekelle city, [33] and also on the small town of Agbe. [34] A large enterprise, Mesfin Industrial Engineering, was also targeted, and one of its engineers got killed.
Airstrikes continued on 21 and 22 October; the latter was nearby Mekelle University main campus, and Mekelle Airport and coincided with the landing time of a UN humanitarian flight. As a consequence, the UN cancelled further humanitarian flights to Mekelle. [35]
The TDF captured the town of Dessie with the Ethiopian government denying the claim. [36]
The TDF said they captured the town of Kombolcha and the OLA claimed to have captured the city of Kamisee from ENDF allied forces. The Ethiopian government denied the towns were captured. [37]
OLA and TDF forces said they officially met up. [38]
As the counter-offensive came deeper into federally-controlled territory, the Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency. [39]
During an interview with Radio France Internationale, French historian and Horn of Africa expert Gérard Prunier explained that the bulk of the Eritrean army in Tigray is defending the border with Sudan (to prevent Tigrayan rebels from being supplied by Egypt, which is hostile to Abiy Ahmed's government) and to protect Eritrea's border with Tigray, thus leaving the defense of Addis Ababa mostly to Amhara militias in the face of heavy losses sustained by Ethiopia's federal army. [40]
Amnesty International accuses Tigrayan rebel fighters of gang raping women in Ethiopia [41]
In view of rebels advancing on the capital city, fears are expressed for the safety of the Mugher plant (operated by Dangote Cement), located at 90 km northwest of Addis Ababa. [42]
The Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he campaigned to lead his army into battleground. [43]
The Ethiopian state television announced that the Ethiopian troops take control of Chifra, a district located in Afar Region. [44]
The Ethiopian government said they recaptured Shewa Robit 220 km (135 miles) far from Addis Ababa. It was occupied by Tigray forces earlier. [45] According to the Minister of Ethiopian Government Communications Legese Tulu, they also retook nearby towns like Debre Sina, Wegeltena, Mezezo, Mollale. They retook Lalibela, as well. [46]
The Ethiopian government claimed that they recaptured Dessie and Kombolcha. [47]
Reuters reported that forces loyal to the TPLF had recaptured the town of Lalibela less than two weeks after government forces and their allies had recaptured control of the town for themselves. [48]
Legesse Tulu, head of Government Communication Service, announced that government forces have taken control of several towns from TPLF, including: Weldiya, Kobo, Lalibela, Hara, Robit, Sanqa, Sirinka, Hamusit, Estaysh, Ahun Tegen, Dilb, and Kul Mesk. [49] [50]
Ethiopian Government, announced that deputy prime minister Demeke Mekonnen visited Lalibela following its recapture. [51]
Getachew Reda, spokesman of the TPLF, announced they were withdrawing from several areas of northern Ethiopia in order to "open the door to humanitarian aid." This retreat had not been not confirmed. [52]
On 23 December, the Ethiopian government announced that its military forces would temporarily halt any excursions into Tigray. [53]
Ethiopian forces purportedly massacred an unknown number of people in the town of Abala. Soldiers went door to door killing ethnic Tigrayans but spared non-Tigrayan civilians. [54]
Ethiopia announced pardons for high-profile political prisoners. Its government said it will release several leading TPLF members and opposition leaders from the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups. [55]
Aid workers say an airstrike at an IDP camp in Dedebit, northwest Tigray, killed 56 people. [56] [57]
According to aid workers and hospital officials, 17 people working at a flour mill, were killed in drone strikes in the town of Mai Tsebri. It was reported the strikes injured dozens of people and killed 16 donkeys. [58]
According to an official and a doctor at Mekele's main hospital, 2 people were killed and dozens injured in a drone strike in Hiwane. [58]
Militants reportedly belonging to the TPLF attacked an Eritrean refugee camp in Berhale, killing at least five people. [59] Thousands were displaced and several women were abducted. [60]
TPLF and Ethiopian forces agreed to make a ceasefire in order to allow humanitarian aid into Tigray. [61] [62]
The TPLF says it will release 4,028 government soldiers it captured as part of a series of ongoing negotiations. [63]
Ethiopian government forces conducted an air raid in Mekelle which struck a kindergarten and surrounding houses, leaving four dead - two of them children. Witnesses reported an explosion followed by anti-aircraft gunfire. The Ethiopian government denied hitting the kindergarten; instead claiming they were targeting military sites, although it wasn’t immediately clear if there were any in the area, and alleged that the TPLF had actually staged the dead bodies. Both Federal Government spokesman Tulu and Military spokesman Adane refused to respond to inquiries about the attack. [64]
The Tigray People's Liberation Front, also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. It was classified as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government from May 2021 until its removal from the list in March 2023. In older texts and Amharic publications, it is known as Woyane or Wayane.
The Tigray War was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied to the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.
The Mai Kadra massacre was a massacre and ethnic cleansing carried out during the Tigray War on 9–10 November 2020 in the town of Mai Kadra in Welkait in northwestern Ethiopia, near the Sudanese border. Responsibility was attributed to a pro-TPLF youth group and forces loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) in the EHRC-OHCHR Tigray Investigation, preliminary investigations by Amnesty International, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), and interviews conducted in Mai Kadra by Agence France-Presse. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and EHRC reported that at least 5 Tigrayans were killed in Mai Kadra by Amhara militas such as Fano in retaliation. Tigrayan refugees in Sudan told multiple news outlets that Tigrayans in Mai Kadra were targeted by either Amhara militias, the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), or both.
The Mekelle offensive was a military campaign fought between the armed forces of Ethiopia and the Tigray Region to reach the city of Mekelle in the Tigray Region, from 17 November to 28 November 2020. It was part of the Tigray War.
Getachew Reda Kahsay is an Ethiopian politician who is the Chief Administrator of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray since the Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia announced his appointment on 23 March 2023. Before assuming power as chief administrator, he was a longtime advisor to the former president of the Tigray Region, Debretsion Gebremichael.
This timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
Sexual violence in the Tigray War included, according to the United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, people forced to rape family members, "sex in exchange for basic commodities", and "increases in the demand for emergency contraception and testing for sexually transmitted infections".
All sides of the Tigray War have been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes since it began in November 2020. In particular, the Ethiopian federal government, the State of Eritrea, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Amhara regional forces have been the subject of numerous reports of both war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Tigray Defense Forces, colloquially called the Tigray Army is a paramilitary group located in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It was founded by former generals of the Ethiopian Military in 2020 to combat federal forces enforcing national government mandates in the Tigray region, culminating in 2020 with the outbreak of the Tigray War. The TDF has made use of guerilla tactics and strategies. Human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported that the TDF has committed war crimes against civilians including gang rape and extrajudicial killing during their occupation of both the Afar and Amhara regions. According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Justice, TDF combatants have been found liable for upwards of 540 civilians casualties. as of 28 December 2021.
Following the 2018 dissolution of the ethnic federalist, dominant party political coalition, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, there was an increase in tensions within the country, with newly resurgent regional and ethnically based factions carrying out armed attacks on military and civilians in multiple conflicts throughout Ethiopia.
Operation Alula Aba Nega, commonly shortened to Operation Alula, was a counter-offensive during the Tigray War by the Tigray Defense Forces against the Ethiopian military and its allies in Tigray. The operation was named after Ethiopian general Ras Alula Aba Nega, who was of Tigrayan descent. The offensive was launched on 11 June 2021 and recaptured vast swaths of territory across central and eastern Tigray, including the regional capital of Mekelle.
The TDF–OLA joint offensive was a rebel offensive in the Tigray War and the OLA insurgency starting in late October 2021 launched by a joint rebel coalition of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) against the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) and government. The TDF and OLA took control of several towns south of the Amhara Region in the direction of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa in late October and early November. Claims of war crimes included that of the TDF extrajudicially executing 100 youths in Kombolcha, according to deral authorities.
This Timeline of the Tigray War is part of a chronology of the military engagements of the Tigray War, a civil war that began in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia in early November 2020.
In the late hours of 7 January 2022, the Ethiopian Air Force (ETAF) carried out an airstrike on a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) set up in Dedebit Elementary School, located in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Between 56 and 59 people were killed in the attack, and at least 30 others were left injured.
The Kobo massacre was an extrajudicial killing event perpetrated in Kobo district and Kobo town in North Wollo Zone of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia during the Tigray War, on 9 September 2021.
On 26 November 2021, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and its allies had begun an offensive to recapture territory in the Amhara and Afar regions being occupied by the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF). Afar and Amhara militias had mobilized thousands of fighters and joined the new offensive. The ENDF and its allies were able to push TDF forces back from Debre Sina, Amhara to Alamata, Tigray (≈400 km). The Ethiopian government announced the campaign for national unity was a success and had been completed on 23 December 2021.
Since the 1990s, the Amhara people of Ethiopia have been subject to ethnic violence, including massacres by Tigrayan, Oromo and Gumuz ethnic groups among others, which some have characterized as a genocide. Large-scale killings and grave human rights violations followed the implementation of the ethnic-federalist system in the country. In most of the cases, the mass murders were silent with perpetrators from various ethno-militant groups—from TPLF/TDF, OLF–OLA, and Gumuz armed groups.
The Kombolcha massacre was the mass extrajudicial and summary execution of over 100 ethnic Amhara civilian youths by the Tigray Defense Forces in South Wollo, in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Bodies of the victims were set on fire at a business compound in the town. Kombolcha was described as a key warring location and is found on the A2 highway leading into Addis Ababa, where the Tigrayan forces were advancing to the capital. Looting of aid, and private and public properties was also reported. Kombolcha town is the industrial hub of the Amhara region.
On August 26, 2022, an airstrike allegedly from the Ethiopian National Defense Force hit a kindergarten in Tigrayan capital of Mekelle, killing seven people including two children.
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