Read on Twitter
Barely a year ago, Ethiopia's PM Abiy was acclaimed as a peacemaker, a youthful African leader awarded the Nobel Prize after signing a peace deal with Eritrea. But this week, he started a sweeping military operation against Tigray, one of his own regions. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/world/africa/ethiopia-abiy-tigray.html
“Mr. Abiy announced the operation on Facebook just before 2 a.m. on Wednesday, an hour after internet and phone links to the region went down, according to NetBlocks, an organization that tracks internet services.” https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1323799930947964928
“Without any substantive foreign backing and Sudan and Eritrea cooperating with the Ethiopian military, it remains unlikely that the TPLF will be able to resist the Ethiopian military’s incursions for long.” https://mailchi.mp/thesoufancenter/ethiopia-edges-closer-to-civil-war
Re: geolocated video above, Amnesty believes likely hundreds of people not involved in the ongoing military offensive were stabbed or hacked to death in May Cadera. Witnesses say forces loyal to TPLF were responsible for the mass killings. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/11/ethiopia-investigation-reveals-evidence-that-scores-of-civilians-were-killed-in-massacre-in-tigray-state/
There's also lots of online disinformation regarding the ongoing military offensive by Ethiopia. Good fact-check overview here by the BBC's @MwaiPetrov. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54888234
A Chinese-made Wing Loon II was spotted by @wammezz at Assab, the Emirati military base in Eritrea. While TPLF has claimed to be under attack on several fronts, this is no evidence that the UAE is actively supporting the Ethiopian Air Force above Tigray. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-world/2020/11/19/are-emirati-armed-drones-supporting-ethiopia-from-an-eritrean-air-base
Started a specific thread monitoring airstrikes here. https://twitter.com/trbrtc/status/1329652042185531395
Over 30,000 people have fled to Sudan already, according to the UN. And with the federal government stating its troop are marching on the capital Mekele, it's expected that number will continue to rise in the coming days.
“From fleeing refugees to missile attacks — the fallout from the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray Region is spilling into other countries and threatens to destabilize an already fragile region,” says @ReutersAfrica's @Katchysangel.
At least 30 destroyed buildings lining the main road near Dansha airport, where the Ethiopian government says there was a Nov. 4 surprise attack by the TPLF on federal troops, are visible on this Nov. 18 @Maxar satellite image. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-idUSKBN281092?taid=5fb8fb6c39486a0001898946
Shire (ሽረ) was reportedly captured by ENDF forces on Nov. 17. Satellite imagery of @planetlabs shows smoke rising from this warehouse https://www.google.com/maps/place/14%C2%B006'47.3%22N+38%C2%B016'16.8%22E/@14.1134558,38.270457,1514m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d14.1131301!4d38.2713402 that day. It appears to have been reduced to rubble judging from the image a day later, as was also noted by @Obs_IL.
Last week, three ambulances were attacked, according to the Ethiopian Red Cross Society. Details of the incidents remain unclear, ICRC stated, but it's “a worrying sign that medical workers and first responders are not being respected and protected”. https://www.facebook.com/EthiopianRedCross/photos/a.473697792717240/3514309778656011/
The Dejena Hotel in Shire ( https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dejena+Hotel/@14.1037426,38.2891043,472a,35y,348.33h,18.62t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x16693f99b30f4afd:0x81489cd73ddd298f!8m2!3d14.1050466!4d38.2886534) appears to have been damaged as well, especially the firs floor, as seen in before and after images. It's unclear exactly when, why, and by whom the hotel was damaged.
Follow this thread by @ryanmofarrell for, as far as I've seen, the most accurate territorial control situation in Ethiopia's Tigray Region. It's striking how little we know of what's going on in TPLF-held territory, given the communications blackout. https://twitter.com/ryanmofarrell/status/1330962355526758406
