Airborne leaflets dropped over Tigray by Ethiopian airforce expose the political objective of the ongoing massive military offensive on Tigray.
The leaflets warn that populations in the encircled areas of the siege have forfeited their civilian status and, thus, protection.
This blanketly assumes that populations in Tigray outside the control of Amhara, Eritrean and Ethiopian forces who do not want to evacuate are combatants and thus a legitimate military target.
It is the plan for accelerated depopulation of Tigray as part of the genocide.
Tigrayans faced and still face atrocity crimes in areas outside the control of Tigray Defense Forces (TDF); many may refuse to evacuate and may even relocate to areas under TDF, resulting in more mass displacement.
Nearly half million newly displaced, and the figure is rising.
Alert:
Close to 400,000 civilians have escaped frontline towns in northern Tigray in last 72 hours as EDF and ENDF continue relentless shelling, airstrikes.
A desperate civilian population weakened by 2 years of siege have now been thrown into an even more perilous situation.
— Rashid Abdi (@RAbdiAnalyst) October 18, 2022
By Dr. Mehari Tadele, professor at European University Institute.