Ethiopian peacekeepers from the warfare-torn Tigray area, who’re refusing to return domestic, are sufferers of insurrection “propaganda”, the defence ministry said, following the squaddies’ request for political asylum in Sudan. In a statement issued late Wednesday, the defence ministry accused the TPLF of inciting defections among Tigrayan peacekeepers “by sowing the lie that they will be imprisoned if they return home”. It also said some peacekeepers had refused to return because they feared the TPLF “and not because of hatred of their country”. But the Tigrayan peacekeepers interviewed by AFP all said they were worried about their safety, with one senior officer saying that other returnees had been arrested or killed in Ethiopia. In a statement sent to AFP late Wednesday, the group of 528 peacekeepers still in Abyei said they wanted to “be a voice against the siege which is killing our people”.

Source: Ethiopian News April 28, 2022 15:03 UTC