Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh on Monday blamed the United States administration that has been supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Movement (TPLF) for the last 20 years for the current conflict in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region, reported Aljazeera. Saleh added that blaming Eritrea for the fighting was unfounded.
In a letter to the United Nations Security Council circulated on Monday, the Eritrean foreign minister accused US President Joe Biden’s administration of fueling further conflict and destabilization in the Tigray region through interference and intimidation, apparently to revive the remnants of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) regime.
The TPLF led the coalition that ruled Ethiopia for nearly 30 years until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.
Abiy’s efforts to make peace with longtime foes Eritrea as soon as he took office further alienated the TPLF.
In November last year, Abiy ordered military troops to initiate attacks into the region to detain and disarm the TPLF group’s leaders that attacked Ethiopian army camps. Although the Ethiopian prime minister announced the end of military operations in the region at the end of November, fighting continues in the region as reports of atrocities are proliferating and world leaders are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Saleh’s letter didn’t mention anything about the Eritrean troops in Tigray, despite international calls for them to withdraw. Eritrean forces have been accused of carrying out atrocities with the Ethiopian troops in Tigray. According to the global rights watchdog Amnesty International, Eritrean soldiers opened fire on civilians in Tigray in April, killing three people and wounding at least 19.
Eritrea acknowledged only in April that its forces were taking part in the months-long war in Tigray. Following that, the Ethiopian foreign ministry announced Eritrean forces started withdrawing from the trouble-hit Tigray region after fighting on the government’s side.
