Addis Ababa, April 28, 2022 (Walta) – The news circulating by the TPLF-affiliated media and some international media outlets about the withdrawal of terrorist TPLF forces from the Afar state are big lies to deceive the international community, so said Government Communication Service (GCS).
Meanwhile, GCS announced that among the aid trucks that had entered Tigray with relief supplies after the declaration of Humanitarian Truce, 40 trucks have not returned yet.
Speaking to EPA, GCS Minister Legesse Tulu (Ph.D.) stated that the terrorist TPLF is spreading fake news that it has left the Afar state in order to deceive the international community and pretend that it is the Ethiopian government that is averting humanitarian aid from entering Tigray state.
As to him, the group recently told international media outlets that it withdrew its fighters from Afar state. However, he added, five woredas and a town administration of Afar state are still under the control of the terrorist group.
He also stressed that if the international community is truly concerned about the human rights of fellow citizens, it must press for the immediate withdrawal of the terrorist group from the areas where it invaded.
Legesse further indicated that 40 trucks out of the trucks that entered Tigray state with humanitarian supplies since the declaration of humanitarian truce by the federal government are detained by the group.
The group has been using these trucks to transport its soldiers and the looted property from Amhara and Afar states, according to Legesse.
The Minister also explained that the federal government has shown commitment towards the delivery of relief supplies into Tigray without any trouble, but the terrorist TPLF is disturbing the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Tigray by invading some woredas of Afar state.