Back from three weeks in Ethiopia, mostly in Tigray, where there was a communications blackout which meant I couldn't post updates from the ground. Story in today's paper, but here are some images and thoughts on what I saw.

An Ethiopian prisoner of war camp at Adi Isher, 30 miles south of Mekelle. The soldiers had been captured a few days earlier, after heavy fighting, and their faces were clouded with so much: resignation, resentment, fear, fury. Clearly a huge loss for Ethiopia's military.

Col. Hussein Mohamed, the captured commander of Ethiopia's 11th infantry division, was remarkably frank. He said he wanted to commit suicide after being surrounded by Tigrayan fighters but junior officers stopped him. Now thinking about his wife and three young children in Oromia

“The warning signs are there for genocide in #Ethiopia – the world must act to prevent it. Rarely before has the danger of genocide been so clearly signalled in advance than in Ethiopia.” Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

What’s unfolding in Ethiopia has all the makings of a genocide and we cannot wait for this to become another Rwanda before we take action. See my questioning of Bureau of African Affairs & USAID in Africa #SenDepAsstAdministrator (1/3) youtube.com/watch?v=SxR45j…

እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን የማንንም የውጭ ጣልቃ ገብነት በጭራሽ አንቀበልም:: ቢሆንም የአብይ አህመድን ፍላጎት ለመጠበቅ የኤርትራ ወታደሮች ይምጡ ፣ ቻይናና ራሻም ይምጡ ፣ ኢራንም ትምጣ ፣ UAEም ትምጣ:: ሱማሊያና ሱዳንም ይምጡ - ሃገር መውደድ እንዲህ ነው

". Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 isn’t asking us for moral guidance. He’s going to do what he’s going to do.” As the humanitarian situation worsens in #Tigray, Zain Asher speaks with Rep. Congressman Brad Sherman about the U.S' waning influence in #Ethiopia.

Freelance journalist accredited to The Associated Press detained in Ethiopia: apne.ws/zvNeL1W

Authorities in #Ethiopia must immediately and unconditionally release all journalists held in custody for their work and should refrain from using the country’s state of emergency law to imprison members of the press - Committee to Protect Journalists cpj.org/2021/12/ethiop…

BREAKING: Amhara security forces are responsible for a surge of mass detentions, killings & forced expulsions of ethnic Tigrayans in the disputed Western Tigray territory of northern #Ethiopia New research by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch amnesty.org.uk/press-releases…

Mr. Abiy’s journey from peacemaker to battlefield commander is a cautionary tale of how the West, desperate to find a new hero in Africa, got this leader spectacularly wrong. nytimes.com/2021/12/15/wor…

Hey hermela aregawi it looks like you are going to need another hobby in 2023 after Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 and his TPLF mates have ended their “power struggle”. This is what happens when you support a dictator motivated by pure self-interest. You can #NoMore bullshit us.

የዐብይ አህመድ ዘረኛ መንግሥት የትግራይ ህዝብ ላይ ጦርነት ሲያውጅ ከዲሲ እስከ አዲስ አበባ ለድጋፍ ሰልፍ የወጣ ህዝብ ይኸው ዘረኛ መንግሥት በቤተክርስቲያናችን ላይ ጦርነት ሲያውጅ የተቃውሞ ሰልፍ መውጣት እንዴት ተሳነው?

Solidarity between sister Churches: The Coptic Orthodox Church condemns the illegal appointment of bishops carried out in Ethiopia without the consent of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Holy Synod. The Church also rejected the recognition requested by the new unlawful Synod.

#Breaking: Shots fired at Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in #Shashemene, a man reportedly killed

የአብይ አህመድ እብሪት ፣ ደደብነት ፣ ዘረኝነትና ለኢትዮጵያ ህዝብ ያለው ንቀት ከዚህ በላይ ሊገለጥ አይችልም።

Here is a BBC World Service Radio news story from today, which reported about a devastating drought in #Ethiopia in the very week the so-called Prime Minister announced that he had started exporting wheat to other countries. #BorenaDrought

"አብይ አህመድ ያለዉ ምርጫ ሶሰት ብቻ ነው - ወይ ፈርጥጦ ይወጣል ፣ ወይ በራሱ ሰዎች ይገለበጣል ፣ ወይንም ደግሞ ህዝቡ ጎትቶ ያወጣዋል::" -ሻለቃ ዳዊት ወልደጊዎርጊስ youtu.be/lMAuiilMDyk

Defend press freedom- immediately and unconditionally release Belay Manaye and two other detained journalists unless formally charged! Take action now >>>amnesty.org/en/documents/a… Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 Taye Atske Selassie FDRE Ministry of Justice ኢ.ፌ.ዴ.ሪ ፍትህ ሚኒስቴር #Ethiopia

ዐብይ አህመድ የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን ፓትሪያርክን ጨምሮ በርካታ የሲኖዶሱን መንፈሳዊ መሪዎች በመሰብሰብ "ጥያቄዎች ጠይቁኝ ፣ እንመካከር" በማለት ቢጀምርም የሆነው ግን ይህ ነው። #Ethiopia #ኢትዮጵያ #SaveEthiopia