Thread by @althecat

On the night of November 3 2020, TPLF members of the ENDF launched a surprise treacherous attack on their Northern Comman colleagues, attacking many bases simultaneously in the middle of the night killing thousands and taking control of all heavy weapons.

https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1516012598897963008?s=20&t=4esZLGXu7JUFUDprq1SEJw

Soon after they launched a barage of missiles at Eritrea.

In counter-offensive, ENDF and Eritrean forces joined forces with regional forces and Fano and retook Mekele. And aid was able to flow to Tigray through till June when the TPLF launched an attack during the election.

After withdrawing from Mekelle The Govt. of Ethiopia declared a unilateral humanitarian ceasefire in the hope that it would be reciprocated to end the war. The TPLF called the ceasefire a sick joke and provided a long list of preconditions to their reciprocaction of a ceasefire.

The International community said little. International media including the @NYTimes praised the TPLF's offensive calling child soldiers deployed in the offensive "enthusiastic" young fighters.

Soon after the TPLF spokesman @reda_getachew tweeted in Amharic saying that TPLF would get "revenge" on the Amhara people. And in mid-july - during the "Solemn Olympic Truce" TPLF launched an offensive on three fronts. In Afar, and in Amhara (Wollo and North Gondar).

They killed, raped, looted and destroyed infrastructure during this offensive including complete destruction of 1000s of health clinics and hospitals. With over 1000 stolen trucks they maintained supply lines, looting aid from UN warehouses and taking other loot to Tigray.

In August they experienced a significant defeat at Debre Tabor which halted their advance for a while. But they continued to occupy much of Northern Amhara.

https://twitter.com/althecat/status/1428683079766454273?s=20&t=LvDKaWcwKU4uHmBOKoBdqA

Few of these events were even acknowledged in the international media nor by diplomats, and aside from statements calling on both sides to stop fighting there was almost nothing said by the Western IC, most notably the UN, US and EU - instead they demanded access for aid.

The war then dragged on through September, October and in November the TPLF launched a new set of treacherous attacks, bribing military commanders and attacking the ENDF from inside towns on the road north of Addis Ababa.

They tried once again to seize the Addis Djibouti highway and railway to try to cut off Addis Ababa from supplies, and failed again. The July attack on Afar - which resulted in the death of 200 in a health center in Galicoma in early August - and blocked the aid corridor...

... was also undertaken for this purpose.

The October November TPLF offensive aganst Addis Ababa received a lot of attention in Western Media with CNN wrongly claiming that the TPLF was on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Embassies called for the evacuation of foreign citizens.

With the assistance of Turkey, the UAE and Chinese technology and (in December) under the command of PM @AbiyAhmedAli - who personally took control of the army in the field - the ENDF pushed TPLF back into Tigray, though the TPLF claimed that they had withdrawn.

@AbiyAhmedAli But the TPLF did not withdraw for long, or at all. Attacking Afar Dec. 18.

The US Government was hreatening the Ethiopian Govt. with sanctions on 3 fronts - #S3199 was introduced in November, an Exective Order was signed in September, and a determination was expectd on AGOA.

@AbiyAhmedAli Sanctions were eventually imposed under AGOA and the other two sanctions measures by the US Govt. continue to hang over Ethiopia.

The Christmas TPLF offensive in Afar has now been underway for over 100 days, and this has been latest reason some aid has not reached Tigray.

@AbiyAhmedAli TPLF has occupied a large area in Northern Afara - Zone 2 - and it is beleived to be occupying it with close to 100,000 troops. The most recent two aid convoys have passed through this occupied area to deliver aid.

100s of 1000s of Afar are displaced and 1000s have died.

... Alll of which is a long way of saying...

When @DrTedros claims that TPLF are the victims in this war of a Govt of Ethiopia blockade/seige - he is lying. There is not a shred of truth in this narrative. TPLF is the aggressor. It started this war and it continues it.

It is long past time that the IC and international media woke up to the reality of what has happened in Northern Ethiopia and starts to come to terms with the ways in which they have enabled this gross injustice, this immense human and humanitarian catastrope.

/ends

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