There seems to be a constant in certain sequence of tragic events that have been materializing in this country in the month of June. The very first year in which the reformist government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was sworn in there was a vast rally carried out at Meskel Square with hundreds of thousands of citizens hailing him and wishing him good luck in his new duties.
People chanted slogans of support and expressed joy as a result of his coming to office. It was a new chapter in Ethiopian history. He had secured so much support that many wondered how that could happen in Ethiopia with so much diversity. Many suspected the reaction to the long years of TPLF tyranny, the longing for change.
But before the headlines were over, a huge tragedy was about to unfold. It was June 23, 2018 the day hundreds of thousands had showed up at Meskel Square with the podium ready to welcome and wish well to the new premier. People were gathered from all corners of the country. Speeches were delivered and the highest officials of the government were in attendance. As soon as the premier finished his address bombs were thrown on the podium, and for a while there was confusion and pandemonium.
People rushed to secure the safety of the premier and in the panic the closest people to the premier’s podium were live witnesses of the events while the rest of the people did not have a precise idea of what had been happening. In a worst case scenario the victims could have been plenty but fortunately the damage was limited to a few casualties and injuries. The event was on live TV and images of confusion were seen following the explosions.
Later on it was established that it was an act of terrorism well designed, planned and implemented by highly skilled and trained professional criminals who had insider’s information. Various conjectures followed regarding who the culprits could be. Some people said it was TPLF agents while others said it was OLF who disliked Abiy. Still others suspected that there could even be the longa manus of alien forces ready to destabilize the country and put it at the mercy of their dominion.
The message Abiy had transmitted since he came to power seemed very genuinely ambitious talking repeatedly about a united and strong Ethiopia despite the immense diversity. He even invited neighboring countries to come together and work in total collaboration to defeat underdevelopment in unison. He invited Eritrea to come to the table because he would embrace them in peace accepting without preconditions the Algiers Agreement that was negotiated between Eritrea and Ethiopia and TPLF had prevaricated from implementing it. This was a complete departure from the policy of the TPLF government. All this may have alarmed those who had lost power and influence. Hence they may have fancied removing the chief protagonist of the reformist government.
Then came the June of the next year and this time the leaders of the Amhara Regional State were massacred when they were attending a high level meeting in Bahir Dar in their headquarters. It was an immense tragedy that involved the entire country as in the same day’s event in Addis Ababa the Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces was also killed apparently by his guard in what looked like a coordinated attack with the one in Bahir Dar. There were again various explanations behind the attack and the country had to somehow cope with it.
A year ago another bloody June was to take place when TPLF forces were to attack the two adjacent regional states of Amhara and Afar. Thousands of TPLF forces were prepared to carry out the attack following the unilateral ceasefire announced by the Ethiopian National Defense Forces and their retreat from Tigray. This was done up on the insistence of the international community who asked the government to give peace a chance.
However, the TPLF forces took advantage of the stance of the federal government and embarked in an all-out attack even more than it did when it attacked the Northern Command in November 2020. The gesture of the Ethiopian government was not reciprocated by a peaceful position and in the attack thousands of people were killed with immense devastation taking place in the two regional states until there was inevitable need to save the country from dismembering or seeing again a TPLF government in Addis Ababa.
With immense national mobilization, immense usage of resources the attack was reversed and the TPLF forces were driven out of the positions they had taken and sent back to their region. Again there were indications that TPLF could not have acted alone in all this highly orchestrated and planned attack as it was later on discovered that it had benefited from various sorts of assistance including most importantly satellite intelligence accorded them and some sophisticated electronic equipment they used during the assault. TPLF’s advance was highly facilitated also by outside forces including their network of informers outside Tigray and a large part of the Western media who glorified their attacks. The country’s stability was at risk and the premier himself guided the successful counterattack.
Again another June, this time a few days ago another round of merciless violence was perpetrated against innocent civilians living in Western Oromia around Ghimbi in what looked like a premeditated and planned attack on the most vulnerable of people. Reports said a big number of innocent women and children were ruthlessly killed targeted because of their ethnic or religious group. Many were injured and thousands more were displaced. Eye witness reports talked about how merciless the attacks were.
The authorities in Addis Ababa both at the federal and regional level accused the Shene of resorting to such atrocities as they have been under tremendous pressure following the attacks of the ENDF trying to root them out of the regional state. The premier had a few days earlier declared that a big security operation was in the making to destroy the bases and positions of Shene with a thousand killed and many more detained. The premier had said the people of the regions involved in the operation were relieved by such measures.
However, just a few days later this atrocious attack on innocent civilians materialized. As the details transpired over the weekend, the indignation of every one was evident particularly in social media where people showed also their utter disgust. Some horrible images were posted to show the brutality of the attacks. Many said it was unprecedented and unheard of even by the standards of similar attacks encountered in recent years. Those killed were many, the property destroyed was massive, and many houses were burnt down. Some observers said the attacks seemed intended to send a message to the government, that Shene is still powerful. Some however did not exclude the responsibility of the regional government of failure to avert and prevent such attacks. Besides their reaction to the attacks has been too late and some even have suggested the intentionality of such moves as there may be complicity on the part of certain local government officials. Connivance with the terrorists has not been excluded.
The UN human rights agency has asked for an independent investigation so that the culprits will face justice. So has done the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. The news has attracted international attention because it involved massive cruelty and targeted mainly women and children in numbers. Ethiopians continue to wonder the rationale behind similar atrocities. It is even more troubling when ethnic and religious differences have been called as motives. Paradoxically, Shene has accused the local government of the atrocities denying its involvement.
Moreover, there are those who argue that foreign hands may have been involved. Ethiopia’s enemies do not go to bed without planning and perpetrating some vicious act against its citizens. Some say there could be a link with the current rainy season when Ethiopia is bracing up to carry out the third filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, GERD, with more water. They say it may be devised to retard the operation or possibly sabotage it altogether. Doubtless the involvement of TPLF is clear as they have signed a pact to attack Ethiopia in tandem with Shene.
Meanwhile, the Ethiopian government has declared that all these sequences of attacks and atrocities are an expression of despair as the bases of Shene have been hard hit by the defence forces. It said it may be an attempt to derail the reforms the government is undertaking and the development trajectory. But it said they will not succeed because Ethiopia is resolute to withstand every sacrifice and continue on its march ahead.
The premier condemned the attacks in the strongest of terms and ordered the armed forces to launch a major counteroffensive on the Shene positions while launching the phase four of the Green Legacy Initiative. Further condemnations were expressed from all corners of the country including the regional presidents who called for more sustained operations aiming to eradicate these terrorists.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald 28 June 2022
