“Eritrean soldiers killed my uncle,” says WHO’s Tedros Adhanom
by Tesfa-Alem Tekle
December 15, 2022 (NAIROBI) – The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Wednesday that his uncle had been “murdered” by Eritrean forces in Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region.
Dr Tedros said that Eritrean soldiers killed his uncle in a village in the Tigray region along with more than 50 residents of the same village
“They killed him in his home,” he said, adding that “more than 50 people were killed” in the same village and describing the killings as “just arbitrary”
Speaking at the end of a news conference about covid-19 in Geneva, Tedros said he had considered cancelling the conference because he was “not in good shape” after recently learning of the death of his uncle.
“I talked to my mother. She was heartbroken because he [his uncle] was the last child of their family.
“We were peers in age,” said the 57-year-old Director-general of the World Health Organization.
Tedros did not give detailed information about the time of the attack or the name of the village.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have yet to comment on the fresh allegations.
Despite the death of his uncle, Dr Tedros, however, expressed hope that the permanent ceasefire agreement recently reached between the federal government and the TPLF will fully be implemented and expressed his belief that “this madness will stop”
The leaders of Tigray say that the implementation of the peace agreement is well underway however they are accusing the Eritrean government of trying to obstruct the peace process.
They further announced in their various statements that Eritrean forces are committing large-scale killings and robberies in the areas of the Tigray region they still control.
“Eritrean forces still continue to commit heinous crimes unabated with impunity despite the signed CoHA on November 2,” Prof. Kindeya Gebrehiwot, representative of Tigray External Affairs Office said in a tweet today while conveying his condolences message to Dr Tedros.
“The International community should note that this is the painful experience that we all Tigrayans are enduring for 2 years” he added.
According to the Pretoria Peace Agreement and the Nairobi Implementation Document, the Tigray forces announced that 65 per cent of their forces have been withdrawn from the combat zones.
The commander of Tigray forces, General Tadesse Werede said that the process of disengaging their front-line forces is partially linked with the “threat” posed by external and internal forces in the region.
However, neither Eritrea nor the neighbouring Amhara region were part of the peace agreement and remain in parts of the Tigray region.
Per the Nairobi agreement reached between military commanders of Tigray and the federal government Tigray forces would give up “heavy weapons” (presumably tanks and artillery) as foreign and non-federal forces withdraw from the region.
However, in this implementation document, the so-called foreign and non-federal forces that are supposed to leave the Tigray region are not mentioned by name.
The agreement to end the conflict reached in Pretoria, South Africa did not directly mention Eritrea, and Western countries are repeatedly asking for the withdrawal of Eritrean forces from Tigray.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is in Washington to participate in the US-Africa summit, held meetings with the secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, about the rapid withdrawal of the Eritrean army from Tigray territories.
(ST)