Ethiopia : Army announces the restoration of control over the Afar region

In the midst of intense battles, the Ethiopian army announces the restoration of control over the Afar region and the securing of the strategic Mille Road

The Afar special forces supporting the Ethiopian army announced that they have regained full control of the Afar region in the northeast of the country, while the battles continue between the government forces and the forces of the Tigray Front and allied factions on several fronts.

The federal army said to the island that it would continue its advance - from the Afar region - towards the Amhara region, especially to the areas of "Bati" and "Kumbulcha".

Al-Jazeera correspondent in the Afar region, Muhammad Taha Tawakul, confirmed that the government forces managed to secure the strategic Mille Road, through which more than 90% of the incoming Ethiopian imports pass through the port of Djibouti, where more than a thousand trucks pass through to the capital, Addis Ababa.

The reporter added that the sounds of cannons and various types of weapons were heard throughout the night in several towns on the outskirts of Afar and Amhara.

Battles are still raging in several regions in northern Ethiopia. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appeared for the second day in a row from the battlefronts in military uniform.

Ahmed said that his country is proud of its soldiers and national army, and that they will repel the enemy's attack and achieve victory, and that the Tigray Front will not be able to defeat the soldiers of his country.

On Saturday, the Ethiopian government announced that the army had regained control of the Burqa and Shifra regions on the border between the Afar and Amhara regions.

The government said that its forces were advancing towards the city of Baty, reaching Wakumbalcha, in the deep east of the Amhara region, but the Tigray People's Liberation Front did not comment on these developments.

The Ethiopian Government Communications Office announced that the federal army had taken control of the Burqa areas, and the mountains around the city of Bati Shifra, and also managed to control the Bati Kasajita front, and headed to the areas of Bati and Kumbelsha. As for the Shawarbit front, battles are still taking place between the government forces on one side, and the alliance of the Tigray Front and the Oromian Anuq Sheni group on the other.

American concern

In international reactions, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is deeply concerned about the military escalation in Ethiopia.

Price added - after a phone call between Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Blinken - that the minister stressed the need for urgent action to conduct negotiations.

In a related development, the US Embassy in Addis Ababa said that the security situation in the country continues to deteriorate, and urged its citizens to leave immediately and using available commercial options.

Hunger lurks

On the humanitarian front, the United Nations World Food Program says more than 9 million people are facing hunger as a direct result of the conflict.

The humanitarian crisis is concentrated in the three regions: Tigray, Amhara and Afar. The Amhara region witnessed the largest jump in numbers in terms of the number of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, with nearly 4 million people.

And the extent of malnutrition has expanded in the fighting areas, where figures indicate that about 50% of pregnant and lactating women who were examined in Amhara and Tigray, suffer from malnutrition. As for children, the examination data indicated that malnutrition rates among them in the three regions ranged between 16% and 28%. Ethiopia's Minister of State for Communications Salamuet Kasa said that humanitarian aid in Tigray region resumed a few days ago.

And Casa added - in a statement - that the aid arrived via planes to the region, organized and coordinated with the United Nations, and explained that the number of displaced people from the Amhara and Afar regions exceeded 1.6 million, as more than 265,000 tons of food were distributed during the past three days.

The Ethiopian minister added that the main support provided to those displaced by the attack is mainly through the government and partner organizations.