Rebels of the "Tigray People's Liberation Front" (TPLF) have carried out operations against pro-government Ethiopian forces in neighboring Afar region", TPLF Spokesman Getachew Reda said today, Sunday, opening a new front in the widening eight-month conflict.

Getachew Reda told AFP that the "very limited action" targeted special forces and militia fighters from the Oromia region who were massing along the Tigray-Afar border. 

"We took those actions to ensure those forces are sent back to Oromia, and we have managed to do that," Getachew added, pointing out that there were some casualties but he could not provide figures.

He also said, "Our action was very limited to dispersing the peasant militia from Oromia that was mostly press-ganged into fighting the useless war," adding, "We will continue to take steps to ensure the release of those innocent, private soldiers who were mostly forced or duped into the army."

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More than 1,000 soldiers were released Friday in collaboration with the Red Cross, out of the 7000 the TPLF had captured earlier, many of whom were marched through the streets after regaining control over Meke'le, Tigray's capital.

An official media report published yesterday, Saturday, accused the TPLF, which the government deems a terrorist organization, of blocking aid into Tigray via Afar using "heavy shelling" and "heavy artillery." In a statement, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed referred to the TPLF "junta" as "Ethiopia's cancer".

However, TPLF Spokesman denied any aid delivery had been disrupted, and he said, "Where the fighting happened, there is no major highway that is being used for aid purposes."

At the beginning of this month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said that his government could easily recruit one million new fighters to confront the TPLF, but it would not do so because this contradicts the government's goal of maintaining "a period of silence."

It is noteworthy that the people of Tigray are facing the threat of starvation, as a report by UN agencies and relief groups revealed that "about 400,000 people are suffering from phase 5 famine", and that millions need urgent action, without which they could quickly slide into starvation.