UN Security Council calls for ceasefire in Ethiopia

For the first time in six months, the UN Security Council (UNSC)called for an end to the intensifying conflict in Ethiopia on Friday, and for unhindered access for humanitarian aid to tackle the world’s worst hunger crisis in a decade in the war-torn Tigray region.

“Today the Security Council breaks six months of silence and speaks again with one united voice on the deeply concerning situation in Ethiopia,” said Ireland’s UN Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason.

“The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern about the expansion and intensification of military clashes in northern Ethiopia,” the body said in a joint statement.

DW’s Coletta Wanjohi in Addis Ababa said some Ethiopians commend the security council for speaking with one voice, even where some member countries had distanced themselves from the conflict in Ethiopia.

“However, other Ethiopians think the UN is biased against Abiy Ahmed’s government and all it has done is just talk and not push the warring parties enough to end the conflict,” according to DW’s Wanjohi. The statement was drafted by Ireland, Kenya, Niger, Tunisia, St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.

Call for end to hostilities

The Security Council also called for an end to hostilities. According to the statement, warring parties should put conditions in place that will allow an all-inclusive national dialogue.

However, Ahmed Gishe, a political analyst in Addis Ababa, told DW that the Security Council should urge fighters of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to stop attacking government troops and civilians.

“To be honest, it is quite obvious, and everybody knows, including the UN, that the TPLF is the source of the conflict and troublemaker in Ethiopia,” Gishe told DW.

A biased UN?

Gishe thinks the international community, particularly the UN, has not treated Abiy Ahmed and his government fairly. “The UN and western countries are not neutral. Therefore, it is going to be hard for all warring parties to initiate a constructive dialoguein order to end the conflict,” Gishe added.

He also said it would be hard to negotiate with the TPLF because “they don’t believe in the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ethiopia, and secondly they are collaborating with Ethiopia’s enemies who don’t want to see it progress.”

“TPLF is conniving with Sudan and Egypt, and we all know that it is getting military support from Egypt.” said Chernet Hordofa, a legal expert in Addis Ababa. He also believes that the conflict in Ethiopia has escalated because of the involvement of foreign powers.

“Ethiopians believe that the western countries, particularly the United States, could have played a bigger role in de-escalating the conflict but chose to sympathize with the TPLF,” Hordofa told DW by telephone.

“The Americans pressurized Abiy Ahmed’s government and turned a blind eye to the TPLF, which has emboldened them [TPLF] to go beyond their territory and commit atrocities against the civilians in both the Amhara and Afar regions.”

Twitter suspends trends section on Ethiopia

Social network Twitter has temporarily disabled its Trends section in Africa’s conflict-hit nation of Ethiopia over threats of physical harm, the company said on Friday.

“Inciting violence or dehumanizing people is against our rules… Given the imminent threat of physical harm, we’ve also temporarily disabled Trends in Ethiopia,” it said.

Analyst Gishe thinks Twitter’s suspension of the Trends section was a response to Prime Minister Abiy’s recent disparaging remarks against perceived Ethiopian enemies that many users retweeted. Marking the start of the war in the Tigray region one year ago, Abiy said, “this pit, which is dug very deep, will be where the enemy will be buried, not where Ethiopia disintegrates. We will bury this enemy with our blood and bones and make the glory of Ethiopia high up again.”

In the meantime, Prime Minister Ahmed tweeted in Amharic calling for “sacrifices” to save Ethiopia, asfighting intensifies between government forces and Tigrayan rebels. “There is a sacrifice to be made, but that sacrifice will salvage and plant Ethiopia on a rock,” Abiy tweeted.

“We have seen the tests and obstacles, and it made us stronger,” he said. “We have more allies than the people who turned their backs on us.”

Wanjohi says the conflict has gone to the keyboard, and some extreme comments from supporters of warring parties have been posted on different social media platforms.

“Statements and photos refuted by rivaling sides as fake are common. Often it has been hard to tell what is propaganda and not,” says Wanjohi, and false news obviously heightens tensions in an already fragile situation. The conflict has killed thousands of people, forced more than two million more from their homes, and left 400,000 people in Tigray facing famine.