Thread by @althecat

Addi Arkay information thread: Please add references to additional information, Amharic tweets here in replies.

Addi Arkay, taken by Tigray Forces on Saturday is inside Amhara Region, on the road to Gondar [META: I can't help but think of as a reference to Gondor/LOTR.]

https://twitter.com/worldonalert/status/1419031578399883267

Searching Addi Arkay on Twitter finds a fair bit of material including this blog which is reporting in English on the conflict for a Tigrayan audience presumably. wardoone.wordpress.com

Verification of the news at Addi Arkay has been taken from sources other than @reda_getachew and pro-TPLF media would be helpful.

The TPLF is claiming it is also advancing on the other major road south to Addis Ababa - here reported in Egyptian media.
dailynewsegypt.com/2021/07/25/tig…

And so it appears that @reda_getachew is true to his word and the TPLF is marching on Addis Ababa. Attacking Ethiopia on three fronts. The reports that Kobo has been taken are disputed in this @Youtube report from July 22nd by an Indian Vblogger.

Taken together (and noting the risk that information may be misinformation) it seems that the TDF is now attacking Ethiopia directly on multiple fronts in Afar, on the road to Gondar and the road south, the shortest route to Addis Ababa.

The TDF attack on the WFP convoy in the video leaked yesterday is likely the one reported in the final paragraph of this @VOA report published Friday >>

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1419371043127496707

It seems odd that for the @VOA the WFP's good news about it's humanitarian efforts in Tigray are so important that the fact one of its convoy's has been attacked by the Govt. of Tigray is relegated to the final paragraph in this report. Very see no evil. voanews.com/africa/food-ai…

Reuters report from last Monday (day after attack) also mentions the convoy attack in its final paragraph without attributing responsibility.

I was unable to find any news on the @WFP's own press archive about the convoy attack.[wfp.org/news]
reuters.com/world/africa/e…

At the U.S. State Department, the subject of Ethiopia has not come up in briefings or media discussions since the 16th of July when questions were asked about Tigray access to Vaccines and concerns raised about Tigrayan's being intimidated in Addis Ababa. state.gov/countries-area…

The @eu_eeas website contains no statements or information regarding Tigray or Ethiopia since July 13th when @JosepBorrellF met with the Egyptian foreign minister. >> eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/h… & reiterated his 8th July comment that Europe regretted news the #GERD had been filled.

@eu_eeas @JosepBorrellF This Washington DC based tweeter claims the video is not of the Afar convoy attack and that it was not the TPLF that attacked the convoy, but armed locals (this has been reported). She does not provide any evidence for her conclusion nor allow replys.

https://twitter.com/LaurenBinDC/status/1419274431147429891?s=20

@LaurenBinDC may well be right. But a deep fog of war issue in relation to information exists here. Unfortunately some people seem to think the fog of war is a reason to choose facts which suit your disposition.

Which makes me wonder about @declanwalsh and the @NYTimes. Based on a Google & NYtimes.com searches here has been no reporting from the U.S. paper of record on the Tigray conflict since Mr Walsh's embedded TPLF expose revealed the child soldier issue.

This @addisstandard report sheds a little more light on the questions surrounding the WFP convoy attack on July 18th. The report is based on a UN press briefing, but includes response from the Ethiopian Govt.

https://twitter.com/addisstandard/status/1418509086577119232?s=20

Mitiku Kassa, NDRMC Commissioner is quoted:

"TPLF... blocked the road between Afar region and Tigray which impeded 189 heavy trucks...
..l.According to the Commissioner, TPLF attacked those trucks and caused the current hindrance of humanitarian access in Tigray."

This confirms - I think - [& perhaps @BilleneSeyoum can confirm] - that the Ethiopian position is that the WFP Convoy was attacked by the TPLF not "armed locals", as has been reported in multiple outlets.

This report contains the same alleged interview with TPLF military commander General Tsadkan Gebretensae cited in Egyptian Media confirming that TPLF is marching on Addis Ababa.
allafrica.com/stories/202107…

I would be interested to know the initial source of this Interview if anyone knows. It seems to have roughly coincided with a new wave of TPLF propaganda.