Over the years the Eritrean people have witnessed the duplicity, arrogance, and incompetence of successive Ethiopian government officials and paid YouTubers. They are ungrateful and lack principles. Their politics is Charlatan and has no basis whatsoever. Backstabbing is the norm of the game. For them, the begging and knee-jerking lasts until they believe they are out of the woods or the party they depend on turns the page on them. But are they out of the woods?
In business, there is a concept called “don’t burn your bridge”. It means when an employee departs from his/her current organization for a better job, he/she needs to leave in a very amicable way because he/she may come back to ask for a good recommendation or God forbid for another job. After the Eritrean Army saved Ethiopia from disintegration and was praised by his boss Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed repeatedly, recently, the former Prisoner of war and now Field Marshal of The Ethiopian Army, Berhanu Jula, tried to blame the Eritrean Army for the human rights abuses of his undisciplined army caused during the 2020-2022 Tigray war. He attributed the fast mobilization of the Tigray youth to the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) to the so-called injustices caused by the Eritrean Army. In Amharic, there is a saying that goes “If you do not open your mouth a fly would not Get in”. Now that the former prisoner of war, and current affirmative action-driven Field Marshal, has opened his mouth here is the writer of this article’s fact-based response:
The First Round of the War Against the TDF was solely Won by the Eritrean Army.
Berhanu Jula tried to claim that the success of the first round of war with the TDF was an excellent performance of his army that fled to Eritrea. If his army could defeat the Tigray Peoples liberation front militia, why did it surrender its arms and escape to Eritrea? Why was a heavily armed thirty-three thousand Ethiopian army personnel dismantled by a rag-tag TDF militia in a couple of days? Despite repeated attempts, your army could not even breach the Zalambesa front. You are right Adigrat, Adwa, and Axum were under the Eritrean Army. Also, in other places where the Ethiopian Army was located there were Eritrean Army units. Then which areas did your army liberate during the first round of war? The truth is the first round of the war against the TDF was solely won by the Eritrean Army. So, you need to stop your charlatan politics before more information about the war is out to the public.
Second Round of War.
When the TDF was defeated during the first round of war, as confirmed by the Eritrean President, Isaias Afeworki, you started withdrawing your army without informing the Eritrean army. What was previously not mentioned fact though, you withdrew your Army because your government was conducting an election and wanted the Army to guard ballot boxes where the Oromo liberation front was active. When the TDF rag-tag army routed your remaining divisions in Tigray, you were forced to flee Tigray. TDF followed you and reached the gates of Debrebrahn city. Almost all your armored Tanks and Hawsers were captured by the TDF and Thanks to the Turkish Drone Operators, Fano, and the help of Eritrean Mechanized Army units in Kasagita (Mile) and Debrebrhan front you were again saved from demise.
Third Round of War.
Everyone knows how the TDF was decapitated once and for all in the third round of war and forced to sign the Pretoria Surrender Agreement. So, it is unnecessary to spend time discussing the issue here. But it is important to emphasize that in the third round of war, TDF was badly defeated in the Shire front, not in Korem or Alamata. Also, as a reminder, Shire was the front the TPLF with the help of the Eritrean Army defeated the former Ethiopian Dergue regime.
Human Rights Abuses in Tigray.
Field Marshal Berhanu Jula should have been the last person in the world to speak about human rights abuses in Tigray solely caused by his undisciplined Army. He does not have a moral ground to talk about the highly disciplined and professional Eritrean army that saved him from demise by the TDF rag-tag Army. Who doused Tigray Prisoners of war in Adet, Tigray, during the first round of war and lit them on fire alive, Field Marshal? During the first round of war why were many Tigrayan mothers from Zalambasa town fled to Eritrea? Who is in the video below and doing what, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula? Do you see Eritrean Soldiers in the video below?
Mr. Field Marshal, do you have any similar evidence of Human rights abuse by the Eritrean Army in Tigray? Any similar video? Before you falsely blamed the Eritrean Army for looting and human rights abuses in Tigray, the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) tried to use the unfortunate incident that happened to a young girl, named Monalisa Abraha, for propaganda purposes against the Eritrean army. Later, in her own words, Monalisa testified that she was shot during a rape attempt by your soldier and the Eritrean army saved her life. She is the symbol of your army’s human rights abuses in Tigray, Mr. Field Marshal. Similarly, an older gentleman whom the Eritrean army found thrown on the side of the road from Shire to Maitsemri testified on Tigray TV that the Eritrean army picked him up from the roadside, put him in their truck, gave him food, and dropped him in a hospital. Also, many Tigrayans in Wolkaite Testified that the Eritrean Army came to their defense. These are some examples of the good Samaritan deeds of the Eritrean army that escaped Berhanu Jula’s and TPLF’s sinister demonization campaign. As to the looting, everyone knows what the Eritrean Army took from Tigray. Although you may have been ashamed to say it, it was Arms the TDF captured from the Northern command and in turn, the Eritrean Army captured from the TDF. It was not factories.
Conclusion.
Berhanu Jula’s blame of the Eritrean Army for looting and Human right Abuses in Tigray has nothing to do with Truth. It is a charlatan desperate political game to turn Tigrayans against Eritrea. It is born out of hopelessness. The fact is the Eritrean army is full of decent human beings and not an animal as Berhanu Jula and TPLF minions put it. For Eritrea, the Tigray mission is over, and Eritrea has no business with Ethiopian internal politics. It is for Ethiopians to figure out whatever they think the solution to their internal problem. Eritrea does not give any value to the continuous provocation of Ethiopian government official minions and paid YouTubers because Eritreans are working hard to rebuild their country. As the time goes by the truth about the Eritrean army’s humane treatment of the unfortunate in Tigray will be spoken not by charlatan politicians like Berhanu Jula but by the ordinary Tigrayans themselves. Above all the former prisoner of war and current Field Marshal of Ethiopian Army himself is a Testament of the Eritrean Army’s strong record of humanity.
Awet N’Hafash and Eternal Glory to Our Martyr’s