Mekelle Reportedly Under Siege, Adigrat Fully Under the Control of Ethiopian Defense Force

Mekelle City is reportedly under siege after Ethiopian Defense Force controlled one of the key command centers of the northern command in Qwiha 

Ethiopian Defense Force member uses binocular (Photo : from FDRE Defense force)

Borkena

November 21, 2020

The Ethiopian Defense Force on Saturday controlled Adigrat city – the second-largest city in the Tigray region which is said to have significance from a military point of view.

The Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check team has confirmed the fall of Adigrat at the hands of the Ethiopian Defense Force and the operation to control Mekelle city is underway.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed himself confirmed the Defense Force’s capture of Adigrat city and expressed his admiration.

“The advances the Ethiopian National Defense Forces have made in the past few days of our rule of law operation is commendable. Our forces have now fully liberated Adigrat town from TPLF militia as of today [Saturday], following the control of the surrounding areas last night,” he said in his status update.

People living in the towns-controlled by the Ethiopian Defense Forces including Adwa, Shire, Aksum have returned to normalcy, according to Abiy Ahmed’s message. Furthermore, he affirmed to people in the region and those who fled from the region due to the war that his government is committed to helping them “resume their lives with normalcy.”

He said, “the overall safety and well-being of the people of Tigray is of paramount importance to the Federal government and we will do all that is necessary to ensure stability prevails in the Tigray region and that our citizens are free from harm and want.”

Delivering humanitarian aid to the region, however, could be a difficult task given the fact that TPLF forces destroyed key infrastructure in the region as they retreated to Mekelle.

Four important bridges along the road to Mekelle are destroyed, according to a report by state media – EBC. Furthermore, the Ethiopian government announced that TPLF destroyed Emperor Yohannes IV Airport serving Aksum – a tourist city that the Ethiopian Defense Forces controlled on Friday. Other credible sources report that the runway is destroyed.

Reports that Mekele under siege

Reports from Ethiopia claim the Ethiopian Defense Force controlled the major Military center Qwiha town which is located about ten kilometers southeast of Mekelle city.

At this writing, the Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check team did not confirm the story.

Social media sources who claim to have information about the ongoing war claim that Qwiha is indeed under the control of Ethiopian Defense Forces. 

Furthermore, the Ethiopian Airforce helicopters dropped leaflets from Mekelle sky to advise residents to make cautions but again that is unconfirmed by the emergency task force.

TPLF media outlet based in Mekelle, Dimtsi Woyane, did not report about the development on Saturday.