Authorities in Ethiopia's war-shattered Tigray region are forcing young people to join their army's fight against the central government by threatening and jailing relatives, according to captured fighters and residents.

The war in northern Ethiopia since late 2020 has killed thousands of civilians and uprooted millions, triggering famine and devastating infrastructure, though it has garnered less attention globally than other conflicts, such as the war in Ukraine.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) says it is defending the region's 6 million people against subjugation by federal government. But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accuses the Tigrayan party of rebelling to try to restore its grip on national government, which it dominated until his appointment in 2018.

Reuters conducted a dozen interviews from February to May with residents of Tigray, captured fighters and aid workers that provide a picture of forced recruitment by local officials in several parts of the region.

The testimony suggests some Tigrayans, who volunteered in droves earlier in the war, are becoming increasingly reluctant to fight in a conflict that has ground to a stalemate following a ceasefire in March.

Kindeya Gebrehiwot, from the Tigray external relations office, told Reuters by email that some low ranking government officials had detained family members to force their relatives to enlist but said such incidents were rare, the relatives had been released and the officials punished.

Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu said government officials had received multiple reports of forced recruitment. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, whose head is appointed by the government, said in response to Reuters' questions that it had received credible reports of forced conscription by Tigrayan authorities, as well as the imprisonment of parents who refused to give up their children.

The pattern began late last year, according to two captured Tigrayan fighters who spoke in February from a hospital in the neighbouring Afar region.

It accelerated in January and intensified with mass arrests last month, added six Tigray residents, who all said they had friends or family members detained in an aggressive push to make people enlist.

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/some-ethiopians-claim-forced-recruitment-by-tigrayan-forces-2022-05-16/

Hmm

Tonypens48:
Hmm

It's interesting because the same thing happens in America with gangs. And those gangs, like Tigray fighters, are oyinbo proxy armies.