Ethiopian troops rescue 1000 colleagues abducted by TPLF

ADDIS ABABA - Ethiopian National Defense Forces [ENDF] have rescued close to 1,000 colleagues who had been abducted by the Tigray People's Liberation Front [TPLF] at the start of the operation at Tigray region, state-affiliated Fana reported, in the latest dramatic mission to restore peace in the troubled region.

For almost a month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered an operation within the Tigray region following an attack by TPLF targeting Northern Command, where the over 1,000 ENDF soldiers are said to have been kidnapped. The operation has since ended.

According to Fana, the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and the police raided a hideout where the TPLF junta is said to have locked the officers. They were all freed and are said to be in a stable and promising condition, and have returned to their bases.

Among the freed officers include, Brigadier General Adamneh Mengiste, Deputy Commander of the North Command of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces [ENDF]. He was the man in charge of operations within the northern region for some years now.

According to Major General Mohammed Tessema, Director of Indoctrination Division at ENDF, the TPLF junta kidnapped the officers on Nov. 3 after inviting them for a dinner. This was almost at the same time an operation was sanctioned by the federal government in the region.

Tigray region is rebelling against the Ethiopian government and had defied an order postponing elections in August, and instead, went ahead with elections. The TPLF party withdrew from the government after Abiy Ahmed, an Oromo, formed the Prosperity Party for his re-election.

The operation has had its fair share of challenges including the mass displacement of people from the Tigray region. Also affected were the United Nations officials who were solving the humanitarian crisis in the region which had escalated.

A spokesperson for Ethiopia government operations in Tigray Redwan Hussein confirmed ENDF shot at and detained UN workers on Sunday, accusing them of breaching two checkpoints. “This country is not no-mans-land, it has a government,” Hussein told journalists in Addis Ababa.

GAROWE ONLINE