BY FITSUM GETACHEW
November 3rd 2020 will live forever in our mind, in our memory. Every Ethiopian will feel deep sorrow and grief remembering what has happened on that cursed day, that dark day. ‘Tikimt 24, 2013’ according to the Ethiopian calendar is the day that treason and back stabbing was committed against the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Northern Command stationed in Tigray by the terrorist Tigray People Liberation Front, TPLF. It was a day on which thousands of our heroic defense force members including high ranking officials were brutally massacred by the terrorist group forgetting all the great favours that the Northern Command members did to the local people during their more than two decade stay there.
With this gesture T-TPLF once again proved to the world what kind of brutal and fascist organization it is, unlike what it has been preaching during all the years since its foundation about five decades ago. It showed its true face of betrayal and ruthlessness to reach whatever objective it has in mind.
This particular act unlike all others for which it has gained notoriety was intended to break the heart of Ethiopians and reduce the country to small pieces. Destroying the Northern Command which was the back bone of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces was intended to make the country kneel down and submit to any alien attack. No wonder the leaders of T-TPLF have no sympathy neither for their own people, as we know how they forced their own constituency to bow down to their plans and policies, and of course to Ethiopia which seems to hurt their feelings even to hear the name.
The hidden manifesto that was discovered showed that their primary objective is to dismember Ethiopia into several small pieces and then found a ‘grand Tigray republic’ with the TPLF at the helm. The fact that they were the chief political force in Ethiopia during the years 1991 and 2018 was almost something they did not anticipate and what they always wanted and fought for was the formation of a separate state in the north part of Ethiopia detached from the country.
The atrocious attack that T-TPLF carried out treasonously against its comrades in arms, against those who lived with them for years and stood by their side in hard times and helped them harvest the crops when it was necessary or plant tree seedlings to contribute to the greenery of the regional state and build schools when man power was needed and the members of the Northern Command were always ready and willing to take part in any social services that were of use to the community in which they lived. And yet all this was forgotten or did not count to the brutal leaders of the terrorist TPLF leaders.
Such a heinous crime committed by compatriots against the force that has been stationed there for the protection and security of the regional state and the entire country as a whole is unheard in the history of Ethiopia. There is no evidence of its existence even in other countries outside Ethiopia. It remains a unique occurrence and is of course a shameful act for any Ethiopian to even imagine it, let alone accept it as true. There are records of cruelty and ruthlessness in the long history of T-TPLF but not one that matches this particularly heinous act, particularly in its extent and magnitude, and in its ferocity.
On that sad day Ethiopians were informed about the treacherous attack of T-TPLF forces conducted against the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces by no one else but the commander in chief of the federal armed forces and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in a nationally televised announcement. He appeared on TV with a grim face and all his sadness and fury was visible in his face while declaring that a treacherous act had taken place against on the armed forces. He described at length how heinous the attack was and how much damage it had incurred on the national forces. He also mentioned how prepared the attack was and that it was carried out on dozens of posts where there was the federal armed forces stationed in Tigray and later on was to expand its attack deep in to the southern part of Tigray the adjacent regions of Amhara and Afar.
The premier’s expression was enough to understand how sad he was and how disgusted he was when he described the TPLF with the expression of ‘a baby who bites the breast of his mother who has been feeding it’. He then outlined briefly how shameful such an act could be by any proportion and how mentally deranged these leaders of TPLF could be to engage in such an act.
Thousands of the members of the Northern Command were massacred while they were asleep and disarmed and were absolutely defenseless. They were given no chance to defend themselves. Hence the manner in which these soldiers were killed has never been heard of in the history of Ethiopia. They were subjected to the most disgraceful and disgusting type of attack with some even run down by heavy duty tracks. Those whom they did not manage to kill were stripped of their uniforms and let to go naked and some of these did cross to the northern border trying to avoid being massacred like sheep.
The premier then immediately assured to the nation that there were no chances that TPLF would win against a glorious country such as Ethiopia despite its heinous attacks and massacres, despite the losses. They could kill people in their sleep and try to advance to the south but the federal forces have every means to counter this heinous attack and eventually overcome TPLF, he noted. Ethiopian defense forces are resolute to immediately launch a counter attack and everything was ready and planned to launch that the premier said in his capacity as the commander in chief of the armed forces. He also said a special command was already formed to neutralize the assault and that Ethiopians need not have any doubts or worries about the success of the operation due to be launched immediately. He added Ethiopia was destined to win this war because it is on the right side. He noted the TPLF act was not only brutal, heinous and disgraceful but also a big dark spot on the history of Ethiopia.
By carrying out such a massive attack against the Ethiopian national defense forces, the country’s defense was also exposed to any potential enemy which might have been waiting for the opportune moment to carry out attacks. It was in this sense a totally irresponsible act besides being treacherous. But the premier assured a totally taken aback audience that appropriate counterattacks would soon be launched and TPLF would be neutralized.
When we remember what happened two years ago, what has surprised many was probably the way the international media treated this news item. Most of the news coverage was an echo of what the T-TPLF media was broadcasting and Ethiopia’s side was forgotten, deliberately undermined. Even after several months and things were clearer, there was no willingness on the part of many international western media to admit that the attack was perpetrated by T-TPLF, a party that was disappointed to have lost power and tried to recover it using force against the federal forces.
Many so called western analysts were heard prophesying that in the end the cause of T-TPLF was right and that they were destined to win because they had everything it would take to do it. Some were even saying that the attack at the northern command was legitimate because the federal forces were about to attack them and that it was ‘a pre-emptive attack’ echoing what the T-TPLF propagandists were reiterating day and night.
In two years the war is still not over and T-TPLF achieved nothing but deaths and destruction to what it calls its constituency and deaths and destruction to Ethiopia as a whole. T-TPLF has no regard to human life and destruction and there is no way it can claim it fights for the people. In the end it is clear that T-TPLF is a clique of antiquated demagogues who still believe they can live by the rules of half a century ago forgetting that the world has completely changed.
The people of Tigray have not been benefiting from the rule of T-TPLF and about thirty years of rule of the country and even more of the regional state, there are still millions embraced in the safety net programs of donors while the leaders and their families are owners of huge companies and economic empires not only in Ethiopia but also abroad. The children of the leaders of T-TPLF are all either in Europe or the US following their education in the best schools but the poor peasants of Tigray are used as cannon fodder in the various war efforts the T-TPLF leaders launch.
Hence, Ethiopians will never forget November 3rd 2020 for a good reason. The patriots that sacrificed their lives on that day and all those that subsequently took part in the various military missions carried out in and around Tigray will always be remembered as heroes of the country. They definitely have not sacrificed their lives in vain. Ethiopians at large will pay their respects for all those patriots and the day will remain as one of the historic dates of the country’s history.
The Ethiopian Herald November 3/2022
