By Ayenat Mersie

NAIROBI (Reuters).- The Ethiopian government claimed Tuesday that it was clearing out rebel Tigrayan soldiers from the north Amhara and Afar region. It dismissed Tigrayan statements claiming their forces had withdrawn voluntarily to allow for an “opening towards peace.”

The conflict has left thousands of civilians dead and nearly 400,000 facing hunger in Tigray. 9.4 million northern Ethiopians need food assistance.

The TPLF (the party controlling the Tigray area in the north of Ethiopia) is currently at war with government officials. It had earlier announced Monday its withdrawal from Afar and Amhara.

Billene Seyoum, a government spokesperson said that the “national defence forces” and allied forces from both the Afar and Amhara regions had made significant gains in reversing the occupation of Amhara and Afar villages by TPLF.

Billene stated that these gains were made through “very heavy battles” over the last weeks. The most recent was the complete clearing of TPLF Zone from North Wollo Zone, and the liberation of its strategic capital Woldiya.

She stated that the national armed forces are still working to remove TPLF fighters from the pockets in these regions.

Debretsion Gebremichael, leader of the TPLF, has requested that United Nations establish a no fly zone over Tigray for any hostile aircraft, an arms embargo on Ethiopia and Eritrea and a U.N. mechanism for verifying that Tigray is free from external armed forces.

Billene declined to comment when asked about Debretsion’s correspondence.

She said, “I’m not even sure if such an illegal entity can send such letters to a United Nations agency.” The Ethiopian government considers the TPLF a terrorist organization.

TRADING BLAME

The federal government has in recent months detained thousands https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/ethiopia-conflict-marked-by-violations-all-sides-mass-arrests-un-2021-12-17 of people, many of whom are ethnic Tigrayans, on suspicion of supporting the TPLF.

Abraha Delsta, one Tigrayan most well-known, posted on Facebook Tuesday (NASDAQ) his announcement of release.

Abraha, a former member of the federally-appointed Tigrayan administration and a critic of the TPLF, was arrested https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ethiopia-conflict-idAFKBN2GS0FQ in October after publicly denouncing arrests of Tigrayans.

Each side blames the other for their war.

According to the TPLF, Prime Minister Abiy Al-Mahmi is accused of trying to consolidate power at the expense and the regional areas. He denies this accusation.

Abiy was appointed in 2018. His appointment brought an almost three-decade period of TPLF dominance on Ethiopia to an abrupt halt. The TPLF wanted to retain central power, Abiy said. This is denied by the Tigrayan leadership.

When Billene was asked about claims by Tigrayan media, and a TPLF spokesperson of Ethiopian air strikes on Tigray civilian targets over the last two days, Billene stated that the government had not attacked civilians.

She stated that air strikes were only conducted to “neutralise identifiable terrorist cells” and terrorist hideouts.

Getachew Reda (TPLF spokesman) had posted on Twitter (NYSE – NYSE: ) that 30 people died in a drone attack against a bus used for public transportation in Mlazat. Other similar attacks had occurred in Maychew, Korem and Maychew.

Tigrai TV was a Tigray media outlet that broadcast footage and videos of what they claimed were the effects of the air strike. Interviews were conducted with injured persons and several bodies found in blood pools. Reuters was unable to independently confirm the information.

Redwan Hussein was the State Minister for External Affairs. According to a ministry social media posting, he said that the TPLF had a “misleading narrative” about it and was in the backfoot.

According to the post, “However the government is not going to launch an extensive military operation in Tigray, chasing down the terrorist group at every village and towns, it will make certain that the TPLF cannot wage any attack anymore”.