Page semi-protected

Tigray Defense Forces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tigray Defense Forces
ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ
Mottoዘይንድይቦ ጎቦ
There are no mountains we would not climb
Founded4 November 2020; 10 months ago (2020-11-04)[1][2][3]
Current formGuerrilla Force
HeadquartersMekelle
Leadership
President Debretsion Gebremichael
Commander-in-chiefLieutenant General Tadesse Werede Tesfay
Member of central commandLieutenant General Tsadkan Gebretensae
SpokespersonColonel Gebre Gebretsadik
Manpower
Active personnel<10,000[4][5]–250,000[6] (est. Nov. 2020)
Related articles
HistoryTigray War

The Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) (Tigrinya: ሓይልታት ምክልኻል ትግራይ (ሓምት)) are a military structure that came into existence during the Tigray War.[7] They have grown in reaction and proportion to the Ethiopian government's decision to escalate a scorched earth strategy in Tigray Region.[8] The TDF is experienced with guerrilla warfare.[9][10]

Composition

The Tigray Defense Forces consist of a merger of the Special Forces of the Tigray Regional government, soldiers that have defected from the federal forces,[6][11] local militia, members of Tigrayan political parties such as the TPLF, National Congress of Great Tigray, Salsay Weyane Tigray, Tigray Independence Party and others[12] together with numerous youth who fled to the mountains.[13][14][15][16]

The Tigrayan leadership, though driven from power in Mekelle, the region’s capital, has rallied under the banner of the Tigray Defence Forces, an armed resistance group. It is led by the removed Tigrayan leaders and commanded by former high-ranking Ethiopian National Defence Force officers.
— International Crisis Group, Ethiopia’s Tigray War: A Deadly, Dangerous Stalemate, [15]

Within the TDF, analysts believe that the relative influence of the TPLF has been weakened, at the benefit of the other, often relatively new, components.[15][16]

Equipment

As of 1 September 2021, the TDF was reported by a semi-anonymous, military focussed blog to operate at least 53 main battle tanks, 21 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), 48 pieces of towed artillery, 11 rocket launchers and even ballistic missiles. This is significant since, unlike a unconventional guerilla force, they can, in theory, fight conventionally.[17][better source needed]

Transition from regular to guerrilla force

Before the outbreak of hostilities, the Tigray Special Forces functioned as a traditional military force that was well-supplied and trained in the use of heavy weapons. The ENDF and the Ethiopian Air Force successfully targeted the Special Forces’ heavy equipment during the first weeks of the war, with the help of United Arab Emirate (UAE) drones. However, much of this equipment was abandoned by the Special Forces before it was targeted. The Tigray regional leadership knew that such equipment would be useless for the kind of war that they would have to wage.[10]

Leadership

Many of the TDF officers and non-commissioned officers defected from the ENDF in the lead up to and during the Tigray War.[10] In a zoom meeting with Tigray diaspora activists in June 2021, the President of the disputed Government of Tigray, Debretsion Gebremichael, said that the TDF is led by a central command which coordinates all aspects of the armed resistance of Tigray[citation needed].

Lieutenant General Tsadkan Gebretensae, who was the Ethiopian national forces commander in chief until 2001, became the TDF commander in chief and remained in that post until March 2021,[15][18] when he became a member of the Central Command.[4][19]

Lieutenant General Tadesse Werede Tesfay ("Wedi Werede") is part of the command[15][10] and Commander-in-Chief of the TDF since March 2021.[5]

Brigadier General Migbey Haile is Commander of the Army.[20]


Brigadier General Abraha Tesfay ("Dinkul") is Commander of Army.[21][22]

Rank and file

Young men and women—many of whom fear being raped or murdered—were fleeing to areas under the control of the TDF.[10] In May 2021, a 15-year old rape survivor told the German ARD TV team that after recovery she would join the TDF fighters to make sure that her sister or any other young girl would not be raped.[23] Many Tigrayans, belonging to civil society have also joined the TDF. This includes Professor Kindeya Gebrehiwot, previous president of Mekelle University; Desta Gebremedhin, previous journalist of BBC World, numerous popular musicians, or Prof. Mulugeta Gebrehiwot an internationally renowned peace researcher.[16] Desta Gebremedhin's wife Weyni Abraha explained that Desta was not in peace after the breakout of the Tigray war. Desta made his decision to join TDF when he went to Sudan to cover the Tigrayan refugees.[24]

Operational mode

In 2020–2021, the TDF operates as a guerilla force in the Tigray War.[25] Battle reports are issued by spokesperson Gebre Gebretsadik.[26]

TDF possesses the two components most critical to conducting a guerrilla war: deep knowledge of the geographic and socio-political terrain and a sympathetic population. The TDF also has caches of weapons and an abundance of fighters as well as professionally trained officers.[10]

TDF's operational mode is to launch attacks at night, beat Ethiopian and Eritrean soldiers, take their equipment, and reuse it against them. To communicate, they pass through the people, "because this war is also theirs".[14]

Strategy

After the ENDF and soldiers from the Eritrean Defence Forces took over Tigray's major towns by the end of 2020, the TDF forces retreated to strongholds in the mountainous central interior of the region. There, the TDF consolidated forces and re-organized for a transition to guerrilla-style combat. Following what was a strategic retreat to the rugged interior, TDF forces re-organized into small, highly mobile, lightly armed, detachments of ten to eighty fighters. These detachments were then further divided into mission-specific units.[10]

Popular support

The Ethiopian government’s scorched earth strategy in Tigray has all but ensured the alienation of most Tigrayans. It has also ensured that the TDF will have no shortage of committed fighters and sympathetic supporters within Tigray.[10]

RFI journalist Noé Hochet-Bodin has reported from Dessie about ethnic Amhara refugees fleeing advancing Tigray forces that had occupied their home town of Kobo in the Amhara Region. She reported that one young interviewee remarked 'When the TPLF entered the city, they did not attack the population. I left when I saw that our army was retreating. I was scared. But in the end, the rebels didn't kill us.'[27]

Prospects

In May 2021, the Jamestown Foundation analysed the prospects for TDF as follows:[10]

It is unlikely that the TDF will be defeated over the short or medium term. The TDF will draw on a deep well of local support to sustain itself over the coming months and, quite possibly, the coming years. Neither the ENDF nor the Eritrean Army is capable of launching the kind of sustained clearing operation that would be required to remove the TDF from central Tigray. Such an operation would also further and, rightly, provoke the ire of the international community.

Military campaigns

  • , named after the murdered Tigray leader Seyoum Mesfin, against ENDF and Eritrean Defence Forces in March–April 2021. This campaign, in central and eastern Tigray, secured core areas for the tTDF
  • Operation Alula, named after the Tigrayan 19th C. general Alula Aba Nega took place in June 2021. It started in the Alula's birthplace Mennewe and led to the recapture of Mekelle, as well as Eastern Tigray, Southeastern Tigray, Southern Tigray, the remaining parts of Central Tigray, and most of Northwestern Tigray.[28]
  • Operation Tigrayan Mothers, reasserting Tigray's territorial control over Raya.
  • , in a southern direction (on the "Weldiya-Debre Tabor" front) in parts of Amhara and also in a south-easterly direction leading to the occupation of parts of Afar region to create a buffer zone around Tigray.

References

  1. ^ "Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau Press Release on Facebook, Central Command Spokesperson Getachew Reda". 14 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau Press Release on Facebook, Tigray Defense Forces spokesperson Gebre Gebretsadkan". 19 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Central Command Spokesperson Getachew Reda Interview With Dimtsi Weyane Television". 14 November 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Tghat, 7 June 2021, General Tsadekan Gebretensae Exclusive Interview With Dimtsi Weyane Tigray, Broadcast on May 29, 2021
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Dimtsi Weyane, 18 June 2021, ምስ ኣዛዚ ሰራዊት ትግራይ ተጋዳላይ ታደሰ ወረደ (ወዲ ወረደ) ዝተገበረ ቃለ መሕትት
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Fick, Maggie (10 November 2020). "Battle-hardy Tigray back in spotlight as Ethiopia conflict flares". Reuters. Retrieved 3 May 2021. Tigrayan forces and militia are battle-hardened, have large stocks of military hardware and number up to 250,000 men, experts say. Federal authorities have restricted access to the region, making it hard to verify details of the fighting. However, there are indications that Tigrayans in the powerful Northern Command, which accounts for about half of the federal army’s manpower and its best divisions, are defecting. Local forces are already in control of its headquarters in Mekelle and other army facilities in Tigray, according to a United Nations internal security report seen by Reuters. Ethiopia expert Alex de Waal said Abiy may have underestimated the Tigray leaders’ skills in both politics and war. The Tufts University academic recalled the words of Tsadkan Gebretensae, a Tigrayan who once commanded Ethiopia’s army against Eritrea, in a conversation with him: “War is primarily an intellectual activity"
  7. ^ "Ethiopia is fighting 'difficult and tiresome' guerrilla war in Tigray, says PM". The Guardian. 4 April 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021. Despite the deployment of Eritrean troops and militia from Ethiopia’s Amhara region, which borders Tigray to the south, most TPLF leaders remain on the run and ICG noted that none were reported captured or killed in February or March. Pro-TPLF fighters have regrouped under the Tigray Defense Forces, an armed movement “led by the removed Tigrayan leaders and commanded by former high-ranking” military officers, ICG said.
  8. ^ Walsh, Declan (12 July 2021). "Behind the front lines: How guerrilla fighters routed Ethiopia's powerful army". The Irish Times. Retrieved 22 August 2021. As Tigrayans quietly mustered a guerrilla army this year, they drew on their experience of fighting a brutal Marxist dictatorship in Ethiopia in the 1970s and 1980s, under the flag of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. Then, Tigrayan intellectuals used Marxist ideology to bind peasant fighters to their cause, much like the Viet Cong or rebels in Angola and Mozambique. But this time, the Tigrayan fighters are largely educated and hail from the towns and cities. And it is anger at atrocities, not Marxism, that drew them to the cause.
  9. ^ Plaut, Martin (8 January 2021). "Eritrea in the Tigray war: What we know and why it might backfire". African Arguments. The Royal African Society. Retrieved 22 August 2021. Tigray’s regional capital, Mekelle, fell with hardly a fight but only because Tigrayan fighters withdrew in order to resort to tactics they adopted decades ago. The TPLF has always believed in war of manoeuvre rather than positional war – taking to the hills and mountains and attacking in the rear. The Tigray war is unlikely to be a brief conflict or produce an easy victory for Abiy and Isaias. As a Reuters report explains, the TPLF “is battle-hardened from both the 1998-2000 war with Eritrea and the guerrilla war to topple dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Jamestown Foundation, 24 May 2021: Tigray Defense Forces Resist Ethiopian Army Offensive as Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethnic Militias Enter the Fray
  11. ^ Walsh, Declan (7 April 2021). "Why Is Ethiopia at War With Itself?". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021. As fighting erupted, Tigray officials declared that soldiers from the Northern Command of the Ethiopian military had defected and sided with them.... But although federal forces quickly seized control of Tigray’s main towns, the T.P.L.F. and its armed supporters fled to rural and mountainous areas, where sporadic fighting continued through February.
  12. ^ Place St Pierre, 19 April 2021: Guerre civile au Tigré, la situation sur le terrain (Fulvio Beltrami)
  13. ^ Ethiopia Insight, 27 April 2021: René Lefort: Ethiopia's vicious deadlock
  14. ^ Jump up to: a b Radio France internationale, 23 May 2021: Éthiopie: comment les forces rebelles du Tigré organisent la résistance
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Ethiopia's Tigray War: A Deadly, Dangerous Stalemate". Crisis Group. The International Crisis Group. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2021. All sides in the conflict in Ethiopia’s northernmost region appear to be girding for a protracted battle. The Tigrayan leadership, though driven from power in Mekelle, the region’s capital, has rallied under the banner of the Tigray Defence Forces, an armed resistance group. It is led by the removed Tigrayan leaders and commanded by former high-ranking Ethiopian National Defence Force officers. It currently operates primarily from rural areas in central and southern Tigray, while federal troops control the main roads and urban areas. Eritrean soldiers have their heaviest presence in northern Tigray and Amhara forces patrol western Tigray and the far south. All sides are fixated on securing a military victory. None appears capable of achieving one in the near term. The Tigrayan resistance appears to enjoy broad support in the region, while federal authorities and their allies are determined to capture its leaders and put them on trial. The parties’ positioning means that the conflict could well last for months, or even years, an outcome that would be even more disastrous for Tigray and the rest of the country.
  16. ^ Jump up to: a b c de Waal, Alex; Gebrehiwot Berhe, Mulugeta (27 January 2021). "Transcript – Call between Mulugeta Gebrehiwot and Alex de Waal 27 January 2021" (PDF). World Peace Foundation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  17. ^ Stijn Mitzer; and Joost Oliemans (1 September 2021). "The Tigray Defence Forces - Documenting Its Heavy Weaponry". Oryx Blog. Retrieved 2 September 2021. A detailed list of heavy weaponry confirmed to have been operated by the Tigray Defence Forces can be viewed below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available. This list only includes vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment captured and operated by Tigray forces is significantly higher than what is recorded here. Tigray was home to a significant portion of the Ethiopian Army's heavy weaponry, much of which fell in the hands of Tigray forces in November 2020. Large numbers were subsequently recaptured by Ethiopia however, and therefore could not be included in the list.
  18. ^ Marks, Simon (22 January 2021). "On 'Rooftop of Africa,' Ethiopia's Troops Hunt Fugitive Former Rulers". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 May 2021. And the top military commanders of the T.P.L.F. remain at large. Two Western officials and one with the T.P.L.F., who was not authorized to speak publicly, identified Lt. Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, a former head of the Ethiopian military, as a senior rebel leader. General Tsadkan led Ethiopia into combat against Eritrea during the two countries’ brutal border war between 1998 and 2000. In recent years, after retiring from the army, he ran a small brewery. Now 66, he is back in the fight with the newly formed Tigray Defense Forces, battling the Ethiopian army he once commanded.
  19. ^ " Gen Tsadkan Gebretensae: Ethiopia's Tigray rebel mastermind". BBC News website, 1 July 2021
  20. ^ Tigrai Media House, 17 June 2021, ቃለ መሕትት ተጋዳላይ ምግበይ 06-17-2021
  21. ^ Tesfaselam Informer: General Dinkul: The most famous general leading Tigraian Defence Forces speaks about the war in Tigray
  22. ^ Tigrai Media House, 2 May 2021, ተጋዳላይ ብ/ጀነራል ኣብርሃ ተስፋይ/ድንኩል
  23. ^ Tghat, 27 May 2021: A German TV travels through a war zone: Tigray, not arriving at peace
  24. ^ Asena TV, 28/5/2021: ጋዜጠኛ ቢቢሲ ኮይኑ ኣብ ናይሮቢ ዝዓዪ ዝነበረ ምኩር ጋዜጠኛ ደስታ ገብረ መድህን ንኽቃለስ ናብ ሜዳ ትግራይ ወሪዱ – ብዓልቲ ቤቱ`ውን ክርዓታ ገሊጻ
  25. ^ Lefort, René (30 April 2021). "Ethiopia's war in Tigray is 'but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to conflicts ravaging the country'". The Africa Report. Retrieved 5 May 2021. Last year, Tigray’s leaders underestimated their weaknesses. The region’s security forces were swept away in the conventional conflict and largely unprepared to shift to guerrilla warfare after Mekelle was captured on 28 November. Even the grassroots party-state apparatus has vanished. In a 27 March phone discussion with Alex de Waal [Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and a professor at the Fletcher School, Tufts University], the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) veteran Mulugeta Gebrehiwot, who has joined the armed struggle, said: “the former administration of the TPLF has collapsed… The administrators just ran away.” He added that four and half months after the war started, “there is a zonal army that is organized in several places,” which means this is not the case everywhere in Tigray. The Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) and TPLF leadership have since avoided being wiped out, thanks to the resistance against the ‘invasion’ which has been spontaneously and autonomously built from both the civilian and militia grassroots and among scattered TDF units. The Tigrayans then came back to their age-old structure: the villages’ self-organization. “The farmers in each locality asked [the administrators] not to return back; they said ‘we don’t need you, we will choose our own,’” said Mulugeta. “So, at the village level, they have a committee of seven, sometimes without any former cadre.” In Tigray, the power pyramid was top-heavy. That top has been broken and is under reconstruction. At this stage, the most solid part of the pyramid lies at its bottom. The main Tigrayan war force now is the village-level popular resistance and the TDF military apparatus, which has been progressively regrouped from the remnants of the regional security forces and defected Tigrayan federal soldiers. This resistance will not be crushed even if the top leaders of the ‘junta’ are killed or captured.
  26. ^ MeketeUK, 15 February 2021: Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) completely destroyed the 32 brigade of the Ethiopian Army
  27. ^ Hochet-Bodin, Noé (23 August 2021). "Éthiopie: à Dessie, des réfugiés amharas loin de leur famille". rfi (in French). France Médias Monde. Retrieved 28 August 2021. Lorsque le TPLF est entré dans la ville, ils n’ont pas agressé la population. Moi je suis parti quand j’ai vu que notre armée battait en retraite. J’avais peur. Mais finalement, les rebelles ne nous ont pas tués.
  28. ^ Libération, 29 June 2021: «Alula», l’opération militaire qui a soudain fait basculer la guerre au Tigré
Retrieved from ""