The latest massive US arms deal with Egypt is a “direct American war on Ethiopia,” said one of the top Ethiopian military leaders, as human rights activists also condemn President Joe Biden’s administration. Col. Demeke Zewdu, the security head of the northern-western Welkait region, told local media all Ethiopians should oppose the US increase of advanced military aid to Egypt; as Cairo-assisted Sudanese forces had invaded and occupied western Ethiopia.
Some of these Sudanese forces (reportedly trained, financed and supported by Cairo) still remain inside Ethiopian territories. Last September, the Ethiopian military admitted Egypt and Sudan’s military activities at the border had diverted its resources and “overextended” the Ethiopian army which helped to strengthen rebels, including the TPLF.
The total US arms deal with Egypt is reportedly worth $2.5 billion dollars. After Human rights groups accused President Biden’s historic deal for the Cairo government that tortures & imprisons over 60,000 Egyptian political prisoners, the US state department told al Jazeera this American military sale to Cairo will “support US foreign policy and interests” in the region.
In a stark contrast, the US government has sanctioned Ethiopian economy and blocked all military aid to Ethiopia. Recently, the American envoy Jeffrey Feltman went as far as flying to Ankara to pressure the Turkish government to cancel drone sales to Ethiopia, whose weakened government was facing powerful rebels. US-based Professor Addisu Lashitew, who is also a researcher at the Brookings Institute, published on the Africa Report, the rhetoric by Feltman and US diplomats opposing drone sales to Ethiopia was another proof the US government preferred that “the Ethiopian capital fall into rebel hands.”
Col. Zewdu also added America providing the latest military technology and aircrafts to Egypt while Egypt openly threatened airstrikes on the Ethiopian hydro-dam proves US can’t be trusted to play the role of an independent arbitrator to settle Nile river related disputes in Africa. Currently, Egypt continues to oppose the GERD hydro-electric dam in Ethiopia, where the majority of its citizens have no electricity. With nearly 99 percent of Egyptians having electricity, Cairo wants to keep its domination of the Nile, which is shared by 10 other Nile basin African countries.
Col. Zewdu, who is believed to be half-Tigrayan himself, has been an advocate of autonomy for the multilingual Welkait-Amhara community since 1990s, when the TPLF rulers centralized power and expanded Tigray boundary Westward. In September, Col. Zewdu said his forces defeated Sudan-backed TPLF fighters who tried to re-enter thru Humera and other towns at the border; as Western media & US officials were beating the drums of humanitarian military intervention. In July 2021, the Financial Times (FT) had confirmed reports that up-to 30,000 TPLF soldiers were trained in Sudan and attempting re-entry into Ethiopia.
