Ethiopia government says it has driven rebels out of two strategic towns

The Ethiopian government said on Monday it had recovered two strategic towns in the Amhara region on a key highway to Addis Ababa, after they were seized at the end of October by fighters from the rebel group in Tigray.

The government’s communications service said on Monday that the Tigray People’s Liberation Force (TPLF) forces have been driven out of Dessie, the capital of the South Wollo zone, and the nearby industrial and commercial centre, Kombolcha.

It was also announced Bati, Kersan, Gerban and Degan, as well as Harbu have fallen to federal troops in the weekend fighting.

TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter that rebel forces had left towns including Kombolcha and Dessie “as part of our plan”.

We left #NorthShoa, #kombolcha & #Dessie as part of our plan. There was no organized unit to ‘liberate’ these towns and the residents know it & #Abiy’s generals know it. Things are going according to our plan. The rest is just circus.
As we always say, #TigrayShallPrevail!
— Getachew K Reda (@reda_getachew) December 6, 2021

Dessie, which has been under rebel control for more than a month, is 385 kilometers from Addis Ababa and is one of the largest cities in the Amhara region. It was the capture of Dessie and kombolcha by TPLF fores last month that prompted western embassies in the capital to urge their citizens to leave Ethiopia as soon as possible.

Since Wednesday, December 1, the government has regained control of large plots of territory from the TPLF during a counter-offensive in which the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed personally took part by making appearances on the front in military uniform. Few days ago, the federal troops defeated rebel forces at Gashena, a strategic town located at a major road junction of Gondar to Woldia, strengthening the position of the central government with the recapture of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lalibela, which had fallen to TPLF fighters in August, as well as other key towns in the Afar region. The stunning turnabout would leave TPLF in control of a sole major town in the Amhara region, Woldia which was captured after fierce fighting in August.