Eritrean authorities have intensified military mobilization and are hunting down draft dodgers across the country, as the war in neighbouring Ethiopia escalates.
According to report, the latest round-ups are the worst so far as women have not been spared, with many elderly mothers and fathers detained in a bid to force their children, who have gone into hiding, to surrender.
Last month, Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said that a “tiny number” of reservists had been called up, denying that the entire population had been mobilized.
They spoke on condition of anonymity as Eritrea is a highly restrictive state that controls almost all aspects of people’s lives.
Eritrea has sent troops to help the Ethiopian government against forces from its northern Tigray region, which borders Eritrea.
A source in Eritrea told newsmen that the authorities were trying to “stir emotions” at public meetings, linking their military intervention to “the existence and sovereignty of the nation”, and saying that the TPLF “must be buried”.
Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls the region and is leading the fight against Ethiopia’s government, has also embarked on a mass mobilisation campaign to bolster its forces.
This follows the collapse of a five-month-long truce in August and the failure of the African Union to get peace talks off the ground.