Ethiopians rally in Addis Ababa over alleged Tigray recruitment drive

Thousands of people gathered in Ethiopia's capital on Saturday for a pro-government rally against an alleged forced recruitment campaign by authorities in the northern Tigray region.

The allegation follows accounts from youths who said in June that they had escaped training camps or fled their homes to avoid roundups. Human Rights Watch said earlier this month that security forces aligned with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, were forcibly recruiting young men, including boys as young as 15.

One banner carried by demonstrators in Addis Ababa called on the Ethiopian government to protect people in Tigray. Another called for an end to what it described as trafficking combatants to Sudan.

The Ethiopian government and some local media have accused the TPLF of forcibly sending Tigrayans to Sudan, but the source said no evidence has been provided to support that claim.

Relations between Ethiopia and Sudan have become increasingly strained. Relations between the federal government in Addis Ababa and the TPLF have also worsened despite a 2022 peace deal that ended the 2020-2022 war in Tigray. The war killed at least 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates.

The ceasefire has never been fully implemented. Both sides now accuse the other of preparing a new offensive, and security sources say troops are massing on the region's border.

Bahlbi Tsegaye, a 42-year-old protester, accused the TPLF of forcibly rounding up Tigray's youth, selling them to neighbouring Sudan through Eritrea and exposing them to war.

Getachew Reda, a former Tigrayan rebel leader who later joined Ethiopia's federal government as east African affairs minister, also attended the rally.