More regional militias have pledged to march into Tigray. Some fear that this could send Ethiopia into a spiral of ethnic violence. Others see the move as a sign of Ethiopian unity
Special forces and militias from a number of Ethiopia's regions are mobilizing to back the federal government's military operations in Tigray, signaling a widening of the conflict.
Regular forces from Amhara — a large region abutting the south of Tigray — have been fighting alongside federal troops ever since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched the military offensive in Tigray last November.
But now regular and irregular combatants from six regions not previously involved in the conflict are joining, including from Oromia, Ethiopia's most populous region, as well as Sidama, Somalia and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP).
Ethiopia has a federal system, with 10 regional states (and two city administrations), which are largely ethnic based. Each have their own special forces, plus local militia groups often made up of farmers similar to a home guard unit.
"We have sent over 2,000 militias to the front," the administrator of Western Gojam Zone in Amhara, Simenhe Ayalew, said last week, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
Militias have little combat experience
The question is how much of a military asset these regional fighters will be.
"The regional militia has been given a Kalashnikov and maybe some very rudimentary training. But they are being called in because the war has decimated the federal forces," said Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Norway's Bjorknes University College.
"The tragedy is that these militia may basically be perceived as cannon fodder and we can expect very high casualty rates if they don’t defect or surrender in large numbers," Tronvoll told DW.
Abiy called for regional military back up after Tigray's former ruling party, the Tigray's People Liberation Front (TPLF), took back control of the regional capital, Mekele, and ousted the Ethiopian National Defense Force in June.
Ethiopia has a federal system, with 10 regional states (and two city administrations), which are largely ethnic based. Each have their own special forces, plus local militia groups often made up of farmers similar to a home guard unit.
"We have sent over 2,000 militias to the front," the administrator of Western Gojam Zone in Amhara, Simenhe Ayalew, said last week, according to the Bloomberg news agency.
Militias have little combat experience
The question is how much of a military asset these regional fighters will be.
"The regional militia has been given a Kalashnikov and maybe some very rudimentary training. But they are being called in because the war has decimated the federal forces," said Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor of peace and conflict studies at Norway's Bjorknes University College.
"The tragedy is that these militia may basically be perceived as cannon fodder and we can expect very high casualty rates if they don’t defect or surrender in large numbers," Tronvoll told DW.
Abiy called for regional military back up after Tigray's former ruling party, the Tigray's People Liberation Front (TPLF), took back control of the regional capital, Mekele, and ousted the Ethiopian National Defense Force in June.
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