The two elderly women named Andiya Hamed and Kedija Ibrahim – residents of Megale district of Zone two, Afar State- have been neighbors for the past 60 years. They have never thought of leaving their neighborhood in which each of them had established an extended family close to 50 members, nevertheless, they were forced to flee from their houses when TPLF reinvaded the area using heavy artilleries.
The two women have a great contribution in instilling hard working mentality into young people to lead a better life. Both are highly respected .However, all these respect and value was taken for granted by the TPLF group and left both the women to be displaced due to the attack it reopened.
When the attack was opened, they fled their respective sweet homes . When they returned, the house was turned upside down. Since they ran in different direction with their children, they said they have no idea of their whereabouts. Similarly, they have no information about those people who reside in the rural areas,according to the women.
This is why the government should provide adequate support for the youth so that they can get rid of the merciless group from the area, they underlined.
Apart from the highly valued culture of respecting elders, it is even very shameful to fight with a person whose artillery isn’t compatible with the other. For instance, if one holds a gun while the other hold a stick, the one with the gun either has to go a fight with a stick or should retreat as taking advantage over the enemy is considered disgraceful, according to the elderlies.
“However, the TPLF group committed the attack using the heavy artillery it possessed which is very contradictory with our culture. Using heavy artilleries on civilians is also against any religious doctrine. Though the people of Afar would never bow down to such group, we know that what they are doing is to make the people of Afar feel ashamed.”
They said: “Our lives were mostly dependent on the livestock and yet the group looted them. We left our houses and took nothing. We feel very sad as the group make us dependent when we actually would have been the ones to be cherished and well served. May god make them reap what the sow.”
“If it wasn’t for the heavy artilleries that the group used against us, the youth of Afar would not let them commit any crime. Let alone the youth but ‘we’ the elderlies would have been enough to stop the group however, it is the artillery that we could not handle”, they underscored.
BY BETELHEM BEDLU
THE ETHIOPIAN TUESDAY 15 FEBRUARY 2022
