The Ethio-Djibouti railway which constitutes the lifeline artery for landlocked Ethiopia has been blocked and severely damaged by Somali protestors in
The Ethio-Djibouti railway which constitutes the lifeline artery for landlocked Ethiopia has been blocked and severely damaged by Somali protestors in late March following ENDF’s arbitrary killing of unarmed civilians in Aysha (Aisha), Sitti zone of the Somali Region.
Ugaas Mustafe Mohamed, the Grand Chief of Issa Somali community, recently held a press conference regarding the crisis in Sitti and held nothing back. In his speech, the Grand Chief stated, “we know for a fact and we have received enough evidence that the Ethiopian government led by the military Chief of Staff intentionally displaced us from our land.”
Haji Ali Moussa, a member of Issa-Somali traditional leaders added that “disguised Ethiopian National Defense Forces hiding their true identities are among the invading forces of the Afar paramilitary, and together they have carried out mass atrocities against the Somalis of Sitti.”
For the past few weeks, the Somali communities in Ethiopia have been protesting against the government, both at home and abroad, alleging that the Ethiopian government is committing “severe ethnic discrimination against them.” From Mooyaale to Sitti, mass displacement of Somali ethnic groups and seizure of their ancestral lands have become the mission of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF). Afar, Oromo and the traditional elders of the Somali region have all vehemently condemned the actions of ENDF against the Somali people.
MASS PROTESTS
In Aisha, Sitti Zone of the Somali Regional State, thousands of ethnic Somalis took to the streets outraged by the killing of three civilians in Aisha by the Ethiopian Defense Force (ENDF). One of those deliberately and fatally shot in Aisha by the ENDF was Abdi Washara, a courageous 45-year-old man who dared to tell the ENDF Commanding officer, “your army is responsible for displacing the people of Cundhufo, Garbaciise and Cadeyti. You brought them here with nothing on their backs. Today they are IDPs in Aysha. Take them back to their homes. Take them back on your army trucks. We will not stop protesting till you take them back to their homes. We are aren’t afraid of you and your army.”
Abdi Abdillahi, known as Abdi Washara, was then deliberately and fatally shot by an ENDF sniper after he came out of a community meeting in Aisha with the ENDF Commanding Officer in Sitti Zone responsible for putting down the uprising in the Somali zone (click here a secretly recorded video of that community meeting with ENDF commanding officers).
More Aisha protests erupted and gained strength. They were memorable and remained remarkable. “The Ethiopian Defense Force has declared the enemy to be Somalis,” placards were held up by the protestors, as they sent a loud and clear message to the Ethiopian authorities and ENDF that were in Aysha to subjugate them and prevent them from protesting.
In the diaspora, widespread protests by Somalis against the government of Ethiopia, with slogans of “being Somali is not a crime,” were held in Brussels, London, and the United States.
Similar to the protestors in Aysha, the diaspora protestors demanded the “Ethiopian government to intervene and ensure the immediate return of internally displaced people, protect the rights of the Somali people, and hold those responsible for these atrocities accountable.” The added, “the international community must put pressure on the Ethiopian government to stop ethnic cleansing, allow unhindered humanitarian access, and allow international media to shed light on the crimes committed against ethnic Somalis and bring the perpetrators to justice.”
On the Ethiopian ruler and military leaders, the protestors chanted, “Awal Arba criminal … Abyi criminal … Berhanu Jula criminal … Stop etnic cleansing in the Somali region.”
RAILWAY BLOCKAGE
The commercially important railway line linking Ethiopia to the Djibouti seaport has been severely damaged in late March by Somalis protesting against the ENDF following the murder of two unarmed youths in Aysha, Sitti zone. The incident initially started in the form of demonstrations paired with road closure in response to ENDF’s alleged support of Afar regional special forces in the deadly clashes in western Sitti, which resulted in displacement of hundreds of thousands of people over a span of four years. According to information from sources in Aysha, the railway line got completely or partially destroyed in 32 different sites between Hadhagala and Afdem towns.
On Dawanle-Dire Dawa highway, which has also been blocked, the ENDF has since forcefully reopened the highway, but the railway remains closed to date. However, on the Dawanle-Dire Dawa highway, commercial trucks going through Aysha-Dire Dawa must be convoyed by the ENDF.
BREAKING THE SILENCE
Days before the protests, Ugaas Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim, Issa clan Grand Traditional Chief and spiritual leader, came forward to openly denounce Ethiopia’s Chief of Staff, Berhanu Jula, for his alleged one-sided role in the Sitti conflict. Somali intellectuals also expressed their outrage on the ethnic cleansing and forced displacement directed against Somalis in Sitti.
In his press conference on the Sitti crisis, Ugaas Mustafa Mohamed Ibrahim, the Grand chief of Issa Somali community, stated with confidence, “we know for a fact and we have received enough evidence that the Ethiopian government led by the military Chief of Staff intentionally displaced us from our land.” Ugaas Mustafa continued that tens of thousands of families have been forcibly uprooted from their homes in Adayti, Undhufo, Garba-Issa, Danlehelay and surrounding localities following years of violence. As such, Ugaas Mustafa, for the first time, openly accused Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) of aiding and abetting the Afar forces in their armed campaign against his Issa population.
The Grand Chief for the first time named Field Marshal Birhanu Jula and other senior generals as the principal culprits behind the mass murders and mass displacements directed against ethnic Somalis. The Chief underlined that what is happening in Western Sitti of the Somali region is a systematic ethnic cleansing and mass eviction by the Ethiopian government forces, and as such, has nothing to do with Afar.
It is widely alleged in Somali circles that units of the ENDF wear Afar paramilitary uniforms to hide their true identities and often fight alongside their allies, the Afar militias and Afar special police units.
It is also known by foe and friend for Jigjiga-based Somali regional government to never help or come to the aid of ethnic Somalis they claim to represent. Often on the slightest move Somali officials try to make in order to help and or protect ethnic Somalis they represent, they are immediately threatened and silenced by the federal government. Somali officials are often threatened with legal action if they get involved or even attempt to protect Somali civilians.
THE HISTORICAL WOUNDS OF AYSHA
Aysha has history of genocide in different times by different Ethiopian regimes. On 12 August 1960, one of the deadliest massacres committed by the Ethiopian army on Somali soil took place here. It was a massacre premeditated and committed by soldiers of the then Ethiopian empire which, in a few days, decimated thousands of innocent civilians unleashing large-scale displacement. These recent arbitrary killings reminded Aysha residents of the 1960 tragedy which is documented in the book “The Aysha’a Genocide of 1960: Shedding Light on A Hidden Tragedy” published in 2021.
And Aysha tragedies continue …
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By Mohamed Hadi @MoHadiGafdii | Mohamed Hadi is a human rights advocate, an independent researcher, and a widely read columnist based in the Somali Regional State of Ethiopia
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Dakharada gumeystaha iyo gumeysi-kalkaaliyaha maanta oo Soomaali ah
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