AFRICA, ERITREA, ETHIOPIA, HORN OF AFRICA

Situation Report EEPA HORN No. 84 – 15 February 2021

15/02/2021

Reported war situation in Tigray (as confirmed per 14 February)

–       The UAE armed forces are quietly leaving the Assab base in Eritrea. They have been in Assab since 2015. The UAE has come to a decision to withdraw from the conflict in Yemen where it was involved. Eritrean mercenaries were also involved in Yemen.

–       The departure of UAE from Eritrea will have consequences for the conflict in Tigray where the UAE was involved providing assistance to the Ethiopian allied forces with drone attacks carried out against Tigray regional forces on Tigray territory. The drone was stationed in Assab.

–       Reported that Ethiopia is paying the Eritrean troops in Tigray. Report that Eritrean troops have between 10.000 – 20.000 birr in their pockets (200-400 €, which is a big amount as Eritrean national service troops will receive only around 3 USD a month in their pocket (depending on the calculation).

–       Reports of fierce fighting between ENDF allied and Tigray regional forces around Samre and TDF claims that the ENDF’s 32 division was destroyed. Samre is in the South-East of Mekelle.