The Northern Command Attacks And The Crime of Genocide-Part One

It was exactly this time a full year ago (about 10 pm Ethiopian time) on November 3, 2020 that commandos of the Tigray Special Forces and affiliated TPLF aligned militias attacked 5 bases of the Northern command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces gaining control of the bases and seizing what has been reported as over 60% of the countries heavy ordinance, automatic weapons and mechanized assets. In addition to the looted weapons unconfirmed reports (which cannot be verified due to the sensitive nature of the information) claim that over 6,000 soldiers of the ENDF were massacred or tortured and killed between the initial surprise nighttime attacks of November 3 and ensuing battles on November 4. Sources close to the ENDF claim the numbers are significantly higher but revealing those numbers during an ongoing conflict may have a negative impact on the all around war effort.

These attacks on the Northern command were part of a larger plan that was to culminate in the TPLF taking control of Ethiopia in just 2 weeks, marching on Addis Ababa and seizing control from Abiy Ahmed, the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Abiy Ahmed was installed as Prime Minister in 2018 after the TPLF was forced out of power after 27 years of crushing authoritarian, apartheid-like rule that saw ethnic Tigrayans receive the highest levels of benefits in a society where they were an Ethnic minority, making up only 6% of the countries population but enjoying control over almost 100% of government, civil leadership and business opportunities.

This bold plan, this coup entailed non-military objectives that can no longer be viewed as a series of separate, spontaneous incidences resulting from the outbreak of war. They were purposeful, firmly intentional with the objective of eliminating a large segment of an ethnic group from a region that would be economically advantageous to the Tigrey Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF).

The ethnic cleansing and genocide at Mai Kadra and Humera were part of the initial TPLF plan to regain control of Ethiopia. Cleansing ethnic Amhara from the region of Wolkeit, a region rich in agricultural and other natural resources was crucial for the TPLF. If the TPLF were to once and for all solely rule the region and have sole, unobstructed access to sources of natural resources that played a part in Tigrays’ survival then they would have to eliminate those who originally lived on the land and managed a lot of its resources. Those people happened to be the bi-lingul ethnic Amharas who according to historical documents had been there for over 500 years.

Originally the TPLF annexed Wolkeit from North Gonder during the restructuring of Ethiopia when they took power in 1991. Under the reforms implemented by Abiy Ahmed after 2018, the original inhabitants were enjoying more access and eventual ownership over resources and property in the region that their ancestors had occupied for centuries. I stress that these original occupants of the land were “bi-lingual” as multiple arguments have been made saying that the region belonged to Tigrey based on linguistics, but the fact is that ethnic Amhara’s were the dominant ethnicity but spoke multiple languages including Tigrinya as the region was a major hub for business between Sudan and other countries in the region.

So when the killing started on November 3rd at the Northern Command bases local farm owners (most of whom happened to be retired TPLF military officers) started silently killing their ethnic Amhara day laborers. These killings took place after the day laborers were made to harvest crops which were then sent to Mekele. The laborers had had their pay withheld for a week claiming it was coming the following week. But the only payment for their labors most of these workers received was death. They were shot in most cases, cut with sharp instruments in other cases. Their bodies were either buried on the lands they harvested or removed to multiple dump sites around Mai Kadra in the middle of the night, their murderers, the retired TPLF officers and generals, fleeing to Mekele with the harvest gathered by their former employees.

The next few days will be spent honoring the dead, those who had their lives snuffed out because a group of power hungry terrorist wanted to return to power even though 100 million people rejected their leadership. This is a crucial learning moment for the world, to listen to the voices and testimonies of those who survived this attack the same way heard every recorded testimony from September 11, 2001. Give them your time, your empathy and your sympathy. I watched the towers fall from Brooklyn that September morning and almost three thousand of my neighbors perished in the inferno and collapse of the Twin Towers. But Ethiopia experienced that national trauma in effect 3 times in the course of one week. Over 7,600 people died lost their lives due to the TPLF’s murderous desire to subjugate Ethiopia again. Let us memorialize and remember and pay respect to all of those lost.

Source: https://medium.com/