Ethiopian Border Town Abala a Shadow of Itself After Ceasefire

There's almost no one left in Abala, a once-bustling town on the border of Ethiopia's northern Tigray and Afar regions. Its streets are empty, given over to stray dogs and troops of baboons that scavenge undisturbed among the abandoned houses.

The New Humanitarian was the first internatonal news outlet to visit Abala in Ethiopia, after rebels from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) withdrew from the town, and other territories in the Afar region in late April 2022. Since March 2022 a fragile ceasefire has been in place between the federal government and its war allies, who for 19 months have been battling the TPLF.

There are differing accounts of what happened in Abala when the TPLF took over. Some Tigray activists and media reports have claimed that Tigray residents were massacred by local Afar security forces and militia, whereas the Afar claim that the TPLF was responsible for the destruction. 

Most of the ethnic Afar residents of Abala interviewed by The New Humanitarian said that Tigrayan rebel forces shelled the town before they entered it, killing several people. It is not clear how many were killed by shelling or in shootings that occurred inside the town while the battle was taking place.

The Afar also said TPLF forces carried out their own campaign of looting and vandalism after they captured the town, gutting homes, stealing vehicles, and trashing government buildings, the New Humanitarian reports.