More than 200 people, mostly from ethnic Amhara, have been killed in Ethiopia's Oromia region in an attack being blamed on a rebel group known as Oromo Liberation Army.
The arrests have triggered international concern over "the narrowing space for freedom of expression and independent media" in the African country.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has catalogued a litany of abuses, including torture, gang rape and enforced disappearances, saying some may amount to war crimes.
Addis Ababa says its military will remain in recently-liberated northern Amhara and Afar regions, adding the TPLF rebels have been hit hard and are no longer capable of "executing wishes."
Tigrayan rebels fighting the central government are withdrawing from neighbouring regions in northern Ethiopia, a step towards a possible ceasefire after 13 months of a brutal war.
Ethiopia’s Tigray forces joined with other armed and opposition groups around the country in an alliance against Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed seeking a transitional process after a year of war, but also allowing for his exit by force.
"Some 18,600 children under the age of five in Tigray have been admitted for treatment for severe acute malnutrition from February to August this year compared to 8,900 in 2020, a 100% increase," says UN.
Ethiopia’s national army, alongside special forces of the northern Amhara region, launched a coordinated offensive early on Monday, says a Tigray People’s Liberation Front spokesperson.
The development came as a senior Amhara official says the rebels, known as the Tigray People's Liberation Front, were pushing "deep" into Amhara territory and hinted at possible retaliation.
UN's humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths condemns "dangerous" accusations by Ethiopia that aid workers were biased in favour of and even arming rebel forces in war-hit Tigray.
Some 5,000 Ethiopian refugees are expected to cross into Sudan in the coming days, a Sudanese official says, as world marks 70th anniversary of 1951 Refugee Convention amid worsening refugee crisis.
Sudanese government report says 3,000 asylum-seekers hail from Ethiopia's restive Amhara region, which borders conflict-hit Tigray state.
Subscribe to our Youtube channel for all latest in-depth, on the ground reporting from around the world.
Copyright © 2022 TRT World.
Like
Follow