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Veniam Yetbarek didn’t even know his cousin was alive when his phone rang on Christmas Eve.A voice he hadn’t heard in two years came to him from Tigray.
In this region of northern Ethiopia, calling relatives has been virtually impossible since civil war began in November 2020, cutting off most of the phone and internet services.
But after a ceasefire was signed in November 2022, the phones started ringing again, and Tiglayans like Beniam rejoiced as they reunited with their loved ones suffering from one of the world’s deadliest. It also brought me sadness and anger.
“My first reaction was to thank God you were alive. I don’t know how he survived the last two years, but I’m glad he’s alive.
However, his relief was short-lived.
fear and hunger
Beniam’s family listened to every word of his cousin’s story about the terror and hunger that struck the people of Aksum, the presence of the Eritrean army in the streets, and the health of his diabetic uncle who could not find medicine. rice field.
During the conversation, the family learns that their great-aunt has died and another cousin is missing. and presumed dead.
“It beat us all,” Beniam recalls. “My aunt cried. Both of my cousins ​​were silent…we all tried to brace ourselves (…), but when he hung up, we were silent.” I prayed.”
Phone service was temporarily restored in parts of Tigre, a region of 6 million people, in early 2021 before being cut again in June of that year.
In December 2022, a month after a ceasefire ended a conflict that claimed between 100,000 and 500,000 lives, phone lines were restored.
In Mekelle, the region’s capital, many residents flocked to phone shops to reconnect old numbers. “My mother cried listening to me for months. I cried too,” the 42-year-old man, who lives in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Eritrean soldier
Not everyone was lucky enough to receive good news.
“They killed him in front of his house,” Meharit Gebreyesus said of his uncle. One of his seven members of his family, according to his relatives, at the end of October he was executed by Eritrean soldiers near Adwa.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had lost his uncle from Tiglaya who was killed by Eritrean soldiers.
Restricted access to Tigre makes it impossible for AFP to independently check the situation on the ground. But all belligerents in the conflict have been accused by the Independent Observers of committing atrocities.
The hardest thing for Beniam Yetbarek was not knowing the fate of his family in Aksum, where hundreds of civilians were massacred in November 2020.
“I don’t want to spend the last two years with my worst enemy,” he says. “Anxiety slowly burns you”.
A 25-year-old Tiglayan, who requested anonymity, told AFP when her sister called her out of the blue from Shire, a town heavily bombed in October, telling her her family was safe. He said.
“I can’t believe I dreamed of being able to talk to my family today to find out if they were still alive,” she says.
calendar
Two months after the peace agreement, communications are still in their infancy, even in big cities, and calls often drop after a few minutes. Or even not successful at all.
A 40-year-old woman who spoke to her parents for the first time in 18 months on Jan. I did,” he said.
The state power company said on Tuesday that power would be restored across Tigre within two weeks.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokesman told AFP that critical infrastructure had been repaired and telecommunications services had been restored in 51 towns, but did not give a timetable for a full restart of services.
When contacted, the public operator, Ethio Telecom, did not comply with AFP’s request.
Mehalit, meanwhile, is still unable to contact his 65-year-old father and six sisters in Negash, south of Tigray, and is praying that they drop out. “I don’t even know if he’s alive,” she laments.
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