Thousands of Ethiopians rally against Tigray recruitment drive

AFP reported in June on the recruitment drive in Tigray -- which fought a brutal civil war against the central government in 2020-2022 -- citing youths who said 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 (TPLF), which has ruled the region for decades, were forcibly recruiting young men, including boys as young as 15.

"The Ethiopian government must fulfil its duty to protect the people of Tigray," read one banner carried by demonstrators in Addis Ababa.

Another read: "Stop trafficking combatants to Sudan!"

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

Relations between Ethiopia and Sudan have become increasingly strained, as have those between Addis Ababa and the TPLF despite a 2022 peace deal that ended the devastating two-year war in Tigray that claimed at least 600,000 lives, according to African Union estimates.

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

The TPLF "is forcibly rounding up the youth of Tigray, selling them to neighbouring Sudan through Eritrea, and exposing them to war," protester Bahlbi Tsegaye, 42, told AFP.

Former Tigrayan rebel leader Getachew Reda, who has since switched sides to join Ethiopia's federal government as east African affairs minister, was also at the rally.