In a communiqué issued by the Ministry of Information on October 15, the Embassy of Eritrea in the United States reiterated its opposition to the accusations made by the United States and the European Union against the country’s role in the ongoing conflict in Tigray.
Notably, the communiqué also criticizes the joint document jointly issued last October 12 by the United States, Australia, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada and Britain, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and where Eritrea’s role in the conflict was strongly criticized (https://shabait.com/2022/10/15/press-release-blaming-the-victim-and-saving-the-perpetrator-under-the-mantle-of-human-rights/).
The Eritrean communiqué accuses the U.S. and Europeans of deliberately and systematically trying to downplay the TPLF’s responsibility in the conflict by blaming the Tigray regional government for the full and complete responsibility for the conflict.
The communiqué – as well as previous ones – makes no mention whatsoever of the Eritrean role in the conflict, rejecting the accusations made by the international community and calling for a systematic attempt to manipulate the narrative of the crisis.
Instead, according to an article published by the BBC, compulsory recruitment has allegedly been intensified in Eritrea to meet the needs of the conflict, which is affected at this stage by a mighty offensive in northern Tigray (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63208353).
The news reports in the article are difficult to verify, and are in all likelihood also heavily influenced by the judgment of some opposition groups in the diaspora. Although Information Minister Yemane Meskel himself admitted to a “modest recall” of reservists, it is unclear at present what the extent of it actually is.
