P.S. Correction: The new TPLF claim is an attempt to change the narrative on their attack from a week ago on Abala (closest Afar town to Mekelle).

This is what the @TwitterSpace held yesterday by @meazaG_ and attended by around 500 people was about.
There were two special guests in that @twitterspace room @Afarfederalist and @Abrar577191701 both new accounts, associated with each other it seems, and associated with an Afar TPLF aligned colonel and his clan.
On Saturday 18th December, the day following the @UNHumanRights meeting in Geneva Abala was attacked. This video records eyewitness/victim testimony about what happened.
This tweet explains a bit about where Ab’ala is, a border town which has long had a mix of Afar and Tegaru residents.
On December 18th the town came under artillery bombardment. Residents trying to leave the town, and defenders then came under sniper attack and small arms fire. As happened in other towns in this conflict a group of Tegaru hid arms in a church and then retrieved them & attacked.
The TPLF’s Ab’ala massacre refered to in this tweet from TPLF propagandist @ProfKindeya relates to these events. During the attack several Afar civilians and fighters were killed as well as several TPLF gunmen.
The Afar forces fought off the ground attack whilst under bombardment, and have been under bombardment ever since. This has resulted in the aid route into Mekelle being closed once again, and this may be the reason for the attack.
Notably the artillery bombardment has continued beyond the declaration of and welcoming of the announcement by Debretsion Gebremicheal of a Tigray ceasefire, and the subsequent announcement by GoE that it is not advancing into Tigray.
The decision to turn this into a TPLF information operation appears to be more recent. The tweets from prof Kindeya, Alula Solomon, and the @meazaG_ (@OmnaTigray) hosted @twitterspace with Afar speakers misrepresenting the Ab’ala events + @Tseday in attendance is proof of this.
For more information. @QafarMedia has just held its own @TwitterSpace on this to answer questions about Afar’s experience in the war. The recording of this will hopefully be posted soon.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Alastair Thompson

Alastair Thompson Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @althecat

27 Dec
Latest @NOAA GFS model runs show no end to the stormy weather over the Middle East within the 16 day long-range forecast window. Here we see accumulated rainfall by Jan 12th.
Here's a North Africa wide overnight update to 10am this morning of satellite presentation of this.
And Middle East satellite presentation today.
Read 17 tweets
27 Dec
This Prof. Tronvoll piece is indeed interesting, in part because Tronvoll like de Waal is more cheerleader and confidant commentator when it comes to the TPLF, and if read in that light the meaning can take on a different hue.
I tend to interpret his more sober than normal assessment of TPLF’s future fortunes (he has spent most of the year counting down to their victory), as being his way of expressing disappointment as a TPLF fanboi.
That said @BronwynBruton is right that the risk of an internal uprising against the TPLF is real if something resembling stasis ensues.

But the reality is that it isn’t. The TPLF has been attacking Afar already and by some accounts preparing another offensive in the West.
Read 15 tweets
26 Dec
It appears TPLF’s propagandists are now claiming that the Afar attacked themselves, or that the ENDF did (as they claimed with Galicoma), after realising, too late, that their latest attacks might prove to be a last straw for their IC enablers.
The TPLF have been attacking the Abala Mekelle road repeatedly for months as part of their @WFP @USAID truck, fuel and aid appropriation - for troop transport, supply and looting purposes - scam.
Read 4 tweets
26 Dec
TPLF misinfo ops are really scaling up... lots of spaces being held, new angles (Afar self-determination - Abala massacre is fake news) and it looks like they are now trying to leverage #NoMore and #KnowMore
Here was a twitter space organised tonight which had 500 attendees which is pretty amazing for a Boxing Day evening/afternoon. Hosted by @meazaG_.
What exactly is the current TPLF line on the Abala massacre? On the 21st of December @UNSpokesperson told UN news eporter @MBesheer that 20 trucks were stranded in Abala due to security issues.
Read 5 tweets
26 Dec
This suggests that rather than actually seeking peace, the TPLF is once again pursuing their initial military strategy (from July), attacking Afar with the intention of seeking to capture the Djibouti Addis transport routes.
It is classic TPLF for this new offensive to be launched over Christmas whilst their Western enablers are all on holiday, and international media is running on skeleton crews, and therefore unlikely to report this. @BBCworldservice @AJEnglish @dwnews @AP @France24 @AFP @Reuters
Doing so - at this stage with OLA proxy forces -is however a new twist for the TPLF. Should they make any progress it seems likely that TPLF reinforcements will rejoin the effort.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(