I have been trying to verify ESAT’s report about military actions in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, by Ginbot 7 fighters over the past few days.

As of tonight, I could not find any one locally who can give me an independent confirmation other than an information about occasional clashes between various clans and tribes in remote areas of the region. I will continue my effort to gather all the facts and report to you. In the mean time, I can tell you for certain that ESAT’s source for the news, Zemene Kasse, has been and continues to be a hostage of the Eritrean government. He has been banned from leaving Eritrea to prevent him from exposing all the lies that are being told. It is highly likely that Zemene is feeding ESAT a false news that is fabricated by Shabia. If such military action has really taken place, many people who closely follow situations in both Asmara and Addis Ababa are telling me that it will no doubt cause a strong military response from Woyanne and possibly full scale war. That is the last thing the Shabia regime in Eritrea that has been ravaged by the U.N. sanction needs.