Ethiopian Airlines moved weapons to Eritrea for Tigray war-CNN

GOOBJOOG NEWS|ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian Airlines shipped weapons to and from Eritrea at the onset of the Tigray conflict in late 2020, the US-based broadcaster CNN has said amid accusations of mass atrocities against the Abiy Ahmed administration.

According to the CNN investigation, the airliner, which has established itself as one of the profitable in the continent moved weapons to and from Eritrea during the first weeks of the conflict in November 2020.

The investigations reveal that arms were transported between Addis Ababa’s international airport and airports in the Eritrean cities of Asmara and Massawa on board multiple Ethiopian Airlines planes in November 2020 during the first few weeks of the Tigray conflict, the CNN reported published on Wednesday reads in part.

The release of the report coincided with the inauguration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for a second term in office. On at least six occasions — from November 9 to November 28 — Ethiopian Airlines billed Ethiopia’s ministry of defense tens of thousands of dollars for military items including guns and ammunition to be shipped to Eritrea, according to records, CNN added.

The investigations, CNN reported, reveal that an Ethiopian Airlines flight transported guns and ammunition from Addis Ababa to Asmara, Eritrea’s capital on November 9, some five days after PM Abhiy Ahmed ordered a military offensive in Tigray. It added that the flights to and from Eritrea went on until November 28 according to official records but that staff revealed the flights went on informally past this date.

The employees told CNN the staff could manually turn off the ADS-B signal on board to prevent the flights being publicly tracked, the report noted.

Ethiopian Airlines workers described witnessing other airline employees loading and unloading arms and military vehicles on flights directed to Asmara. A few even claimed they helped load the weapons on the planes themselves. All spoke of being ethnically profiled for being Tigrayan.