On 4 November 2020, the Tigrinya (Tigray People’s Liberation Front, TPLF) attacked the Northern Command of the Ethiopian military, starting a major conflict in the country. The TPLF is an irredentist, ethno-nationalist group based in the state of Tigray, Ethiopia. They want to break away from the multi-ethnic state.  The violence started by the TPLF is also threatening the security of neighboring Eritrea. The TPLF have the backing of the United States and "Israel".

The Horn of Africa is a key strategic region for the US African Command (AFRICOM). Its importance is shown by the fact that China currently has a military base in Djibouti. As the Horn of Africa is a transit hub connecting the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, the conflict has significant geopolitical ramifications.

In spite of the fact that the leaders of the TPLF have admitted to attacking the Ethiopian army, the international media have presented the conflict as a ‘genocide’ perpetrated by the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments against the people of Tigray.  

It is not too difficult to see why all the press reports serve the agenda of the TPLF fighters who are portrayed as innocent victims, while the Ethiopian and Eritrean military are blamed for atrocities more often than not carried out by the TPLF themselves. 

Eritrea versus AFRICOM

Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia in 1993. The Eritrean People’s Liberation Front, (EPLF) fought off two empires, the Soviet Union and the United States to achieve victory. Since independence, Eritrea has been ruled by President Isaias Afwerki, chairman of the ruling People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ). The goals of this party are national independence, self-sufficiency, and social justice. Under Afwerki’s leadership, Eritrea has seen staggering economic growth, becoming one of the most independent nations in the African continent.  

The Eritrean government refuses to allow foreign elite-funded NGOs to interfere in the internal matters of the country. And this commitment to sovereignty has made it an enemy of imperialism, in particular the United States. Human rights groups close to the State Department have been vocal in their condemnation of the ‘North Korea’ of Africa.

It is almost impossible to read anything anywhere in the international press which remotely approximates to the reality of Eritrean politics. Constant news reports of concentration camps, torture; famine, desperate poverty, and millions of refugees fleeing the tyranny, have given the impression that the Eritrean government is exclusively involved in the oppression of its people. 

There are no reports about the heroic achievements in the provision of free education and healthcare; nothing either about the Eritrean government’s efforts to foster respect and peace between the nation’s nine ethnicities and languages; nothing either about the economic miracle, unique in African history.

Eritrea’s independence is a threat to AFRICOM, the US military’s plan to install bases all over Africa, effectively re-colonising the continent. Sacntions, demonisation and threats of military intervention have been constant tool of the US against Eritrea.

Destabilizing Ethiopia

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But the Eritreans resisted, and so the US turned its attention to another problem: Ethiopia. Eritrea had secured independence from Ethiopia’s communist Derg regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam who had established Amhara ethnic hegemony in the country. That irked the Tigrayans who joined forces with Eritrea to overthrow the regime in 1993. Once in power, the TPLF ran Ethiopia on a federal ethnic basis: each ethnic group had its own state.

But under President Meles Zenawi, the Tigrayans dominated Ethiopian politics. Minority rule, however, suited Zenawi’s US backers who made Ethiopia a player in their Horn of Africa strategy.  The TPLF regime in Addis-Abeba was viciously hostile to Eritrea. War broke out between the two countries in 1998.

Nonetheless, Washington had problem with the Zenawi regime: US arms were being shipped to Ethiopian soldiers whilst China was continuing to build the country’s economy, gaining a foothold in the region. So, the US government decided to use a tried and tested imperial strategy to oust Chinese rivals from the country: destabilization.

In 2015, the Oromo protests erupted against TPLF minority rule. The Oromo people certainly had a legitimate cause, as they are the majority ethnic group in the country. But US-funded human rights groups began to use the Oromo protests as a means to fire up ethnic separatism in the country.  

In 2018, an Oromo Abiy, Ahmed Ali was elected President of Ethiopia. He was widely praised by human rights organizations, as he was a poster boy for a new 'democratic' Ethiopia. The US could now say it was supporting genuine democracy and inclusiveness in the country.

Abiy signed a peace deal with Eritrea in 2018. The Nobel Peace Prize 2019 was awarded to Abiy and all looked rosy. But the problem with imperialists is that what they give with one hand, they often take it with the other. Two years later, the US-backed TPLF separatists launched a war against Abiy’s government. 

The TPLF saw itself as the legitimate caste in Ethiopia, unjustly dethroned by other ethnic groups. Now President Abiy is being blamed for the violence in Tigray. As Eritrea shares a border with Tigray, Asmara sent troops to assist Ethiopia’s defense of its sovereignty. 

False allegations of ‘genocide’

There is no evidence of Ethiopian/Eritrean genocide in Tigray. There is evidence, however, that Eritrean refugees in South Sudan are being massacred by the TPLF. But there is nothing about this in the international press.  

In January 2021, it was reported that the Eritrean military had massacred 750 Orthodox Christians in the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion (Axum Tsion St. Mary). But no evidence was produced to prove a massacre had taken place. No corpses were found, no eyewitnesses were identified. The event was supposed to have occurred in November 2020.

The St. Mary of Zion festival was held the day after the alleged massacre, but no one noticed the hundreds of corpses. According to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, dead bodies were strewn on the streets.

There is now a constant stream of fake news pumped out by the press agencies of empire against the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments. A key leader of the TPLF movement is Tesfazion Gerhelase, a Tigrinya nationalist. He describes himself as a Zionist. Videos posted online showed TPLF activists demonstrating against the Ethiopian government while brandishing “Israeli” flags. The Zionists were instrumental in the division of Sudan and still are involved in the attempt to destroy Ethiopia and Eritrea. 

The tactics are always the same: commit genocide and blame the victims, then call for international intervention to protect human rights. A new Zionist war front has been opened in the Horn of Africa based on lies and hatred.  Once again, the media was their main arm. Speaking about Eritrea, ex BBC journalist Martin Plaut recently said "We need to make the news. And this is not as difficult as it sounds. But it is really important. So you're manufacturing the news. But you need to think of the angle. Do not demonstrate outside the Eritrean embassy unless you are going to burn it down". These fake journalists and lying war mongers must be held to account for crimes against humanity.