@ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

War breaks out in Ethiopia. Tigrayan forces attack federal government positions on two fronts & capture the region's airports. There have been minor skirmishes here and there, but this is the most serious outbreak of fighting since the 2022 Pretoria ceasefire ended the Tigray war. Tragically, shuttle diplomacy efforts by the international community have failed. Ethiopia is on the brink of being plunged back into all out civil war. It's a disaster. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/23/ethiopian-airlines-suspends-flights-to-three-northern-tigray-airports

Al Jazeera

Tigray forces launch offensive against Ethiopian government

Tigray People’s Liberation Front seizes control of airports, targets government positions in Afar and Amhara regions.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

UPDATE: As war rages on in Ethiopia, NetBlocks confirms that what it calls a "subnational internet disruption," has been implemented in the country's north. Scores of Tigrayans are suddenly unable to communicate with family. Phone/internet is disrupted across the Tigray region. Service from the Ethiopian state telecoms provider is completely severed, but service by Kenyan company Safaricom remains active for now, meaning some Tigrayans can still connect and make phone calls. A very bad sign.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

As I pointed out yesterday, @netblocks@mastodon.social confirmed region wide comms outages in Tigray yesterday. HRW and the UN were able to use phones and the internet to contact sources and compile the data for these reports. But it will become increasingly difficult going forward for journalists and human rights investigators. There is reason to fear for civilians, and you can expect an effort to weaponize the blackout to ensure suffering remains undocumented. https://dair-community.social/@ZekuZelalem/117329108621364702

Quoting

Zecharias Zelalem

@ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

UPDATE: As war rages on in Ethiopia, NetBlocks confirms that what it calls a "subnational internet disruption," has been implemented in the country's north. Scores of Tigrayans are suddenly unable to communicate with family. Phone/internet is disrupted across the Tigray region. Service from the Ethiopian state telecoms provider is completely severed, but service by Kenyan company Safaricom remains active for now, meaning some Tigrayans can still connect and make phone calls. A very bad sign.

Open quoted post

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

Second, in a statement today, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk expressed "alarm" at the grave danger civilians have been put in as a result of the breakout of war. Per Mr. Türk, the Ethiopian airforce carried out strikes that hit five schools on Tuesday alone. A day later, an Ethiopian army mortar strike killed civilians in the city of Kobo in the Amhara region, where the alliance of Tigrayan and Amhara rebels is believed to have a presence. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/09/ethiopia-turk-alarmed-civilian-impact-hostilities-urges-de-escalation

OHCHR

Ethiopia: Türk alarmed by civilian impact of hostilities, urges de-escalation

GENEVA – UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday expressed alarm at the widening impact of the escalating fighting in Ethiopia on civilians.Airstrikes by the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF), some carried out using drones, reportedly hit five schools in Tigray on 22 September, resulting in deaths and injuries. A mortar strike on 23 September in Kobo town in Amhara reportedly by the ENDF also resulted in civilian deaths.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

This is Vanessa Tsehaye, among the most amazing people I know. She is the founder of One Day Seyoum & managed to collect over 440,000 signatures for a petition submitted to the US gov, demanding action on Ciham. This is her when she submitted it, in late 2025. She's a former Amnesty International researcher, &now journalist at Al Jazeera. She also won the Magnitsky prize in 2025. Her uncle Seyoum Tsehaye is a journo held incommunicado in Eritrea since 2001. May the demands of 440k be heard.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

As someone who is half Eritrean, my family's circumstances are those of most Eritrean families: my Eritrean family hasn't had a family reunion in decades. Young kids flee military service and cant return without risking persecution, ageing heartbroken parents stay behind, longing for their return and clinging to pictures or memories. Eritrea is also home to Dawit Isaak, the longest detained journalist in the world today (held since 2001) https://rsf.org/en/eritrea-dawit-isaak-arbitrarily-detained-24-years-without-trial-and-information-his-whereabouts

Eritrea: Dawit Isaak arbitrarily detained for 24 years without trial — and information on his whereabouts

rsf.org

Eritrea: Dawit Isaak arbitrarily detained for 24 years without trial — and information on his whereabouts

The Swedish-Eritrean journalist Dawit Isaak and three Eritrean journalists — Temesgen Ghebreyesus, Seyoum Tsehaye and Amanuel Asrat —are entering their 24th year of detention without trial. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the unacceptable silence of the Eritrean authorities regarding the fate of these media professionals, who are the world’s longest-detained journalists without trial. The NGO urges Sweden and the international community to do everything possible to end this grave violat

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

So why am I bringing up old news? Global powers are falling over themselves to establish ties with Eritrea's leader who for decades they dismissed as an eccentric, pro-Moscow dictator. This despite him standing accused of overseeing a genocide. Eritrea lies south of Saudi Arabia, & the Bab El Mandeb strait lies off its coastline. Key word, strait. You see where I'm going with this. The value of Eritrea's position has suddenly skyrocketed, with the Hormuz uncertainty. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-the-west-is-courting-favour-with-eritrea-putting-aside-human-rights/

theglobeandmail.com

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

As someone of Eritrean descent myself, I can tell you that there is zero expectation in our communities that this diplomatic clamour for Eritrea will result in reform of any kind, that could enable us to visit our families at home. But the bare minimum is closure about the fate of an American, a child political prisoner who has spent nearly half her life incommunicado. I wonder if it's too much to expect the US press circle to bring this up as the US prepares for this foreign policy switch up.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

N.B Iran observers: For the USA to go as far as warming up to Eritrea, a country it long viewed as irrelevant... over its Red Sea oil corridor in this manner, I interpret this as a move forming part of an effort to soften the economic fallout that comes with accepting that "Epic Fury" will not achieve its Hormuz related objectives. This despite no one in the Trump admin publicly admitting it. The good thing from this is it appears that the US is looking for alternatives from war with Iran.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

To get an idea of the seriousness of the atrocities Eritrea committed back then, my investigation from February 2021 for VICE World News, on the ethnic cleansing campaign and civilian massacres it carried out. Three years later, legal scholars would deem these atrocities and others to have been genocide. https://www.vice.com/en/article/they-started-burning-the-homes-ethiopians-say-their-towns-are-being-razed-in-ethnic-cleansing-campaign/

“They Started Burning the Homes”: Ethiopians Say Their Towns Are Being Razed in Ethnic Cleansing Campaign

VICE

“They Started Burning the Homes”: Ethiopians Say Their Towns Are Being Razed in Ethnic Cleansing Campaign

Survivor testimony and satellite imagery in Ethiopia’s Tigray region provide evidence of wide-ranging destruction by Eritrean soldiers.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Dear friends, I hope one thing is clear from this: the whole "Africans are war prone" trope needs to go. Yes, the continent remains cursed with leaders who are willing to kill before making the slightest compromise. However, East Africa is some exhibit: the worst mass murderers and warlords have wealthy sponsors in the Middle East fattening their coffers. Millions of people have no say in what happens, and are at the mercy of decision makers in faraway MENA capitals, chasing geopolitical Ws.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 3mo ago

Appeared on the Proximities podcast with Barry Malone, to discuss Ethiopia's elections which ended in an unsurprising Abiy Ahmed landslide victory. Discussed the six years of democratic backsliding, the threat of war with neighbouring Eritrea, and the messy geopolitical situation caused by the Riyadh Abu Dhabi fallout. Barry was once the Reuters correspondent in Addis Ababa, and produced the Al Jazeera The Stream episodes on Ethiopia that I've appeared on since 2020. https://youtu.be/RqHUORjvWZs

Ethiopia: What happened to Abiy Ahmed?

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Every few years, stories like this surface...either on the Dec 8 anniversary of her arrest, or on her birthday April 3. But no new information has emerged. Her father, truly a coward, has disappeared into obscurity in Australia & had been silent ever since. Eritrea is a country literally at the bottom of the RSF press freedom index (behind even North Korea). If you are made to disappear, you may never be seen again. https://www.voanews.com/a/us-eritrea-prisoner/4690807.html

Voice of America

Girl Disappears in 2012; Eritrea Silent

Ciham Ali Abdu disappeared in 2012 after attempting to cross Eritrea’s border with Sudan; her family hasn’t heard from her since

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Ali Abdu doesn't appear to have coordinated his defection with his family. Because weeks later, in December 2012, his daughter Ciham, then aged 15, tried to flee from Eritrea by crossing the border on foot into Sudan. She was caught and taken into custody. She hasn't been seen since. Human rights orgs have slammed the US for the lack of urgency on her case. The girl who dreamed of being a fashion designer, is paying the price for what Eritrea's President deems to be her father's betrayal.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

In the days and weeks to come, what is currently a hush hush behind the scenes diplomatic maneuver by western states to bring Eritrea back from the cold, will become public. We'll need the scrutiny then. LA native Ciham Ali Abdu has now been disappeared for 13 years, 5 months, one day and counting. She'd be 29 years old today. The Eritrean human rights advocacy group One Day Seyoum have been campaigning for her release for years. Their website: https://onedayseyoum.org/ciham

One Day Seyoum

FREE CIHAM — One Day Seyoum

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Most of the Gulf and western powers were certain that the IRGC in Tehran would crumble under the weight of the Israeli-American offensive against the country. As you all know, that hasn't exactly panned out. Some 4 million barrels of crude per day pass through the Bab El Mandeb. It has always been a strategic oil corridor but even more so now. And now there is a geopolitical race for this strait, with the realization that the reliability of the Hormuz is going to be compromised for a while.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

All in all, it shows just how increasingly interconnected war is, especially wars in Africa and the Middle East. Also interconnected, are the suffering and resulting humanitarian catastrophes. Stop war, avert war, all wars. My interview in the clip is preceded by that of Tsedale Lemma, my first editor and journalism mentor back in the day when I was a reporter for the Ethiopian news magazine Addis Standard.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

So the other day, Reuters released this report based on a leaked document: that the US was about to lift 5 year old sanctions that it had placed on Eritrea. The Biden admin had sanctioned Eritrea in 2021 for its ethnic cleansing campaign during the Tigray war. The US is clearly getting in on the strait craze, and has identified proximity to the Bab El Mandeb as being of critical importance. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/us-lift-eritrea-sanctions-red-sea-tensions-reshape-alliances-document-says-2026-05-05/

reuters.com

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Ciham was born in April 1997 in Los Angeles, California, to Eritrean parents. She moved to Eritrea as a child when her father, Ali Abdu, became the Eritrea's Minister of Information in 2002. Under Eritrea's totalitarian regime, Ali Abdu was known for threatening critical voices and defending the regime's record. He was a feared man and anyone with remotely critical views risked jail by angering him.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

So, we know the US has extended an olive branch to Asmara, because of a leaked document seen by Reuters. What we don't know is if there's any effort by the Trump admin to capitalize on an opportunity to learn about Ciham and rescue her. Is she even on the agenda? HRW article on the 10th anniversary of her arrest in 2022. https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/12/07/eritrea-10-years-behind-bars-ex-ministers-daughter

Human Rights Watch

Eritrea: 10 Years Behind Bars for Ex-Minister’s Daughter

The Eritrean government should immediately release Ciham Ali Abdu, held incommunicado since she was arrested a decade ago, when she was only 15, Human Rights Watch said today.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

Tomorrow, we shine a light on Israel's African psy-op, and hold our fellow African journalists, responsible for coverage that dehumanizes Palestinians and downplays their suffering...to account. Tomorrow, on Al Jazeera's The Listening Post. Airs at 19h00 GMT. I would appreciate your time! Cheers, -ZZ.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

A decade after becoming a powerful member of Eritrea's government, in November 2012, Ali Abdu had a falling out with President Isaias Afewerki. Over what exactly, we don't know. He defected & applied for asylum in Australia. The news was groundbreaking in Eritrea, where his was a feared face for years. President Isaias, who has ruled with a iron fist since Eritrea's independence in 1991, was reportedly livid. A CPJ article on the minister's disappearance from 2012. https://cpj.org/2012/12/where-is-eritrean-information-minister-ali-abdu/

Committee to Protect Journalists

Where is Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu? - Committee to Protect Journalists

Eritrean Information Minister Ali Abdu Ahmed, government spokesman and censor-in-chief of the Red Sea nation, has been invisible in the past few weeks. The total absence of any independent press in Eritrea has allowed the government to maintain complete silence in the face of mounting questions and surging Internet rumors of his defection. It was…

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

This took months of research, including consuming radio, TV and print content produced from Israel. Our show zeroes in on trips to Israel made by "delegations" from South Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya. While the robust media culture in South Africa and Kenya ensured that Israeli propaganda couldn't get by unchecked. No Kenyan journalists would go, and only gospel singers made the trip. Ashamed to say that Ethiopian journalists were the most effective producers of Israeli friendly content.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

But the hassle with the Bab El Mandeb strait? Those pesky Houthis and their rockets. Besides their permanent presence as an Iranian proxy in the region, in recent years they've been firing at vessels originating from countries that support Israel. If the Washington Post's report about the KSA lobbying for the US to attack Iran is accurate, then the KSA's primary motivation was probably finding a conduit for its oil in the Hormuz with no risk of rockets firing at them. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/02/28/trump-iran-decision-saudi-arabia-israel/

washingtonpost.com

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

Israel appears to be studying the results, country by country. For instance, following intense backlash from Moroccan journalists against colleagues who traveled to Israel, this year, Israel could not find journalists from Morocco. It sent a cultural troupe to instead. All in all, our weakness as Africans? Too many dictatorships. A robust press culture would have us better resist efforts by not only Israel, but China and Russia as well, to sell us questionable narratives that violate humanity.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

The trips have led to mixed results: in some African countries, strong backlash has occurred, as was the case with Morocco and Kenya. So, Israeli authorities have been selective: it is now selecting journalists from countries run by dictatorships, where there are no press freedoms. i.e Ethiopia. For Kenya, where there is a strong media culture, there were no journalists willing to go, so Israel recruited influencers and gospel music singers.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

Two other experts appear with me, and we explain how the race to secure the Bab El Mandeb, is carving East Africa apart. The region has the world's bloodiest ongoing conflict still raging on in Sudan, and reels from the Tigray war, the deadliest conflict of the 21st century that killed half a million people in Ethiopia and ended in 2022. With both countries becoming proxy battlegrounds for regional powers, a new conflict could engulf Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. https://www.thetimes.com/video/originals/article/is-this-africas-next-big-conflict-29hrzff3t

thetimes.com

Verifying Device

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

I'm ashamed to say this, but Ethiopian journalists have proven the most "effective" of all the Africans to be flown out to Israel. The Ethiopian airwaves and newspapers have been flooded with content that dehumanizes Palestinians, depicts Israel's genocide as a self defense move, or polishes Israel's reputation by highlighting advances in technology, agriculture or various religious heritage sites at a time when media focus should be on mass slaughter in Gaza.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

The findings provide visual confirmation of Ethiopia's direct involvement in Sudan's civil war. They highlight yet another link between the UAE and the bloodshed in Sudan, which has already been heavily documented. Both the SAF and RSF have been accused of war crimes, with the RSF's atrocities in Darfur amounting to genocide, per the UN. Next Wednesday will mark three full years since the break out of Sudan's ongoing brutal civil war, the deadliest conflict in the world today.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 6mo ago

Replying to

The base is located in the western Ethiopian city of Asosa, not far from the Sudanese border. Sources in Somalia told us that a large number of armed technical vehicles were transported to Asosa, from the Somali port city of Bosaso, where the UAE formerly operated a military base. Open source data shows that the technicals were since deployed by the RSF to Sudan's civil war. 200 light technicals were seen on Feb 28th, days before a massive RSF attack on Sudanese army positions at Kurmuk.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Appeared on the Global Dispatches podcast last week to discuss the complexities of possible war in the Horn of Africa. I discuss how none of the usual Middle East and regional powers involved in the region (🇸🇦 🇦🇪 🇹🇷 ) can be considered neutral brokers. There is space for an EU member state to bring parties to dialogue.

N.B...a follow up I'll put up tomorrow addresses the same brewing conflict vis a vis the deteriorating situation caused by the US/Israel war with Iran.

https://www.globaldispatches.org/p/ethiopia-is-sliding-fast-toward-major

globaldispatches.org

Ethiopia Is Sliding Fast Toward Major War

You need to be paying attention to Ethiopia right now.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

corrected: German public media, not state media which implies something else. Thanks to the account that pointed this out to me, but appears to have deactivated.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@thiswomanswerk as you will see, a lot of the Ethiopian media outlets that were selected are not media known for critical coverage or analysis of any kind. As such, they needed very little brainwashing. In fact, despite the Ethiopian Israeli experience being exactly as you described, many of the media outlets featured as a speaker Tsega Melaku, an Ethiopian born MP of Netanyahu's far right Likud party, whose job has been downplaying complaints by her community & largely cozying up to the right.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

@GRA3432@mastodon.world I'll never leave. Thank you for your time!

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@DiogoConstantino@masto.pt Well, they tragically don't hold much sway over Netanyahu and Trump. Nor (per WaPost) Mohammed bin Salman, who apparently fervently believed a knockout punch was possible

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@citc sigh :(

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@DiogoConstantino@masto.pt ah you're actually right. US intelligence didnt support the move either. But I believe that's what the head honcho in DC believed!

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@Madagascar_Sky @timnitGebru well the show's best ever episode airs tomorrow😎😆

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 5mo ago

Replying to

@ohmu correctly assumed

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@bookandswordblog as a Canadian....agreed! The debate is among those who want to gut the CBC, and those who want to preserve it. Never heard anyone advocate for expanding it internationally sadly.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@helianthropy no you are not wrong. Racism and ageism is common at these places. But what standards could we expect with a bunch of murderous bloodthirsty rapists and human traffickers? Sadly, as you point out, desperation for better prospects leads to many ignoring red flags.

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Zecharias Zelalem @ZekuZelalem@dair-community.social

· 7mo ago

Replying to

@NWengrov thank you! Readers uplift us🙏🏿🙏🏿

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