Ethiopia’s Tigray region: War behind a ‘steel wall’

The International Criminal Court said it was suspending the investigation it launched in September to look into a deferral request by Manila. Human rights groups slammed the decision, urging it to continue work.

France on Tuesday became the latest country to advise citizens to leave war-torn Ethiopia as Tigrayan rebels claimed to be advancing closer to the capital Addis Ababa.

Twenty years ago, Portugal was plagued with heroin addiction and HIV infections. The country decided to take a new approach to the problem, becoming the first in the world to decriminalise drug taking. Since then, drug users are no longer treated as criminals to be locked up in jail, but as people who need medical care and supervision. The gamble has paid off, as our team found out.

Fighting continues in Ethiopia, where rebel groups are advancing on the capital Addis Ababa. While much has been said about the northern front, where the army is at war with the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF), another armed group – allied to Tigrayans – is fighting from the south and west of the country. The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) now controls a large swathe of territory. Together, the TDF and OLA plan to topple the government and take over the capital. The government accuses these rebel groups of committing crimes against civilians, including several massacres. Our regional correspondent reports.

Ethiopian authorities have closed all secondary schools so pupils can harvest crops for those on the frontline of the civil war, state-affiliated media says. ... More than 2 million pupils were already out of school due to the war which started in the northern region of Tigray last year, the government says.

After more than a year of war in Tigray, Ethiopia's ethnic divides now run deeper than ever. This will make it hard for the country to heal if peace ever comes.

The accused — Mahamat Said Abdel Kani — faces a slew of charges, including persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts. The alleged militia leader rose to prominence amid a coup in Bangui in 2013.

Locals say Tigrayan forces took over Lalibela without firing a single shot, while the Ethiopian military claims to have captured strategic locations in the regions of Afar and Amhara.

Locals say Tigrayan forces took over Lalibela without firing a single shot, while the Ethiopian military claims to have captured strategic locations in the regions of Afar and Amhara.

A new report by Amnesty international has documented war crimes and atrocities committed during the fall of the internationally backed Afghan government in August.

Fighting between Ethiopian government forces and militants from the Tigray region has now lasted a year. The conflict threatens to widen as military clashes spread beyond the region.

'One of the world's greatest humanitarian and human rights crises' is unfolding in Ethiopia, Laetitia Bader of Human Rights Watch warns in an interview with DW. Her organization and Amnesty International have confirmed reports of atrocities being committed in western Tigray.