However, according to the local sources this brutal action was orchestrated by Woyane partly to fuel tribal conflict among Afars and further to legitimize the harassment of Afar opposition parties, which boycotted the recent “election”. Currently, more than 20 members of opposition and tribal leaders are imprisoned and still in captivity without any legal charges.
The root cause of the conflict has been the ruthless land grabbing policy implemented by the Woyane-affiliated investors in the region. A vast area of the Awash Valley inhabited by Afar pastoralists are seized and appropriated to Woyane-affiliated investors and left the pastoralists no place to graze their livestock and also curtailed access to Awash River. This large area for investment is guarded by the army deployed to safeguard the immoral investment interest. Since the TPLF seized power in the country such irresponsible policy has been implemented in Dooho, Dofan, Baadu, Dat-Bahari, Dubte, Tendaho, Afdera and Dalol areas.
In Dat-Bahari the situation deteriorated due to the introduction of large sugarcane plantation in the areas. The Woyane provides money to its reliable local agents to evacuate the land and those who refused are imprisoned. In Afdera the conflict intensified during Ethio-Eritrean war, where the entire area of the Salt Lake valley is occupied by Woyane investors. In Dalol, a large area of land for potash investment leased to Indian multinational company. To provide legroom for the immoral investment, the local population is evacuated by force without alternative means of subsistence.
To conclude, Woyane is effective to implement its 1976 manifesto to incorporate the Afar region into Tigray region. To realize the idea of Great Tigray the Woyane regime has focused on five main areas:
To dismantle the social cohesion of Afar people by instigating intra-clan conflicts interrelated with land and power issues
To displace the pastoralists and the salt miners from their home areas in order to make them economically dependent and ultimately to make them surrender to the regimes deadly policy
To eliminate all political organizations so that the Woyane agents can reign without opponents
To permit merely the TPLF affiliates to carry out the immoral investments in Afar region
To fuel an inter-ethnic conflict between Afar and Issa, Afar and Oromo in order to divert public attention from the ongoing plan of Greater Tigray. Unfortunately, Woyane is using the corrupted leaders of the de facto dysfunctional Afar Regional State to maintain its hidden agenda.
Afar People’s Party calls up on:
The Afar traditional- and religious leaders to stand together and prevent the Afar nation from becoming the second Somalia;
The Afar youth to stand up for truth and justice and to play a constructive role in peace making among different clans;
All peace loving Ethiopians to stand beside their Afar brothers in exposing the ill deeds of the Woyane;
International organizations for human rights to intervene immediate in Baadu and Dat-Bahari conflict areas;
EU and International Embassies stationed in Addis Ababa to immediately assess the situation in the conflict area!
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