Dessie proved to be impossible to capture for Tigray People’s Liberation Forces after a series of crashing defeats in Boru Selassie, Kutaber, Bistima, Tehuleder, among others.
borkena
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) forces continue to suffer military defeats in the Wollo war front where they were eying to control a strategic city of Dessie and Kombolcha- cities in the Amhara region of Ethiopia which are said to have immense economic and military significance.
On Sunday, there was a concern by some residents of Dessie, borkena interviewed some over the phone, that the TPLF forces would enter the city.
As it turns out, the rebel ethnic Tigrean forces that are rebranded as “Tigray Defense Force” suffered devastating defeats in Kutaber, only about 20 kilometers north west of Dessie.
According to sources on social media sources, over 2000 TPLF combatants were killed and over 900 captured in the battle near Kutaber, a town they controlled briefly.
The Ethiopian Defense Force, Amhara region special forces and FANO volunteers from Amhara region joined forces to check the TPLF advance to Dessie, and were able to do so.
borkena has also confirmed that there was an air strike that targeted a locality in Kutaber where the TPLF forces were stationed soon after they entered the town.
At this writing, borkena has confirmed that Kutaber is under the control of Ethiopian forces.
Some leaders of the National Movement of Amhara (NaMA), a prominent opposition party in the region, were in Dessie where they have been carrying out a mobilization work to entice residents of the city not to abandon it and be displaced elsewhere.
Video footage released by the state media shows that residents in Dessie and Kombolcha are undertaking their normal activities on Monday.
A brief statement from the government communication office said that counter offensive by Ethiopian forces made it impossible for TPLF forces to escape in the areas of Worebabo, Tehuledere, Kutaber and Delanta.
However, the Ethiopian government has not disclosed the number of casualties on the side of Ethiopian forces.
Sources in Dessie told borekna that defense is fortified in the areas surrounding Dessie and that it is very unlikely for TPLF, which continues to use child soldiers, to enter the city.
Captured TPLF soldiers interviewed by government media said that they were recruited compulsorily and that they would be shot from the back if they tried to retreat.
__
Join the conversation. Follow us on twitter @zborkena to get latest Ethiopian News updates regularly. Like borkena on Facebook as well. To share information or for submission, send e-mail to info@borkena.com