ADDISABABA
\nThousands gathered in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday for a pro-government rally against an alleged forced recruitment campaign by authorities in the northern Tigray region. Media reported in June on the recruitment drive in Tigray \u2014 which fought a brutal civil war against the central government in 2020-2022 \u2014 citing youths who said they had escaped training camps or fled their homes to avoid roundups.
\nHuman Rights Watch said earlier this month that security forces aligned with the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF), which has ruled the region for decades, were forcibly recruiting young men, including boys as young as 15. \u201cThe Ethiopian government must fulfil its duty to protect the people of Tigray,\u201d read one banner carried by demonstrators in Addis Ababa.
\nAnother read: \u201cStop trafficking combatants to Sudan! \u201cThe Ethiopian government and some local media have accused the TPLF of forcibly sending Tigrayans to Sudan, though no evidence has been provided to support the claim. Relations between Ethiopia and Sudan have become increasingly strained, as have those between Addis Ababa and the TPLF despite a 2022 peace deal that ended the devastating two-year war in Tigray that claimed at least 600,000 lives, according to African Union estimates.
\nThe ceasefire has never been fully implemented, and now both sides accuse the other of preparing a new offensive, with troops massing on the region\u2019s border, according to security sources. The TPLF \u201cis forcibly rounding up the youth of Tigray, selling them to neighboring Sudan through Eritrea, and exposing them to war,\u201d protester Bahlbi Tsegaye, 42, told. Former Tigrayan rebel leader Getachew Reda, who has since switched sides to join Ethiopia\u2019s federal government as east African affairs minister, was also at the rally. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADDISABABA Thousands gathered in the Ethiopian capital on Saturday for a pro-government rally against an alleged forced recruitment campaign by authorities in the northern Tigray region. Media reported in June on the recruitment drive in Tigray \u2014 which fought a brutal civil war against the central government in 2020-2022 \u2014 citing youths who said they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557248,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-557237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n