With the war in Ethiopia escalating, multiple Eritrean sources have told the BBC that the military mobilisation round-ups are the worst so far.
By Teklemariam Bekit & Farouk ChothiaEritrean authorities have intensified military mobilisation and are hunting down draft dodgers across the country, as the war in neighbouring Ethiopia escalates, multiple Eritrean sources have told the BBC.
"As many ignored the call-up, the round-up has been intensified," a source said, adding that wives have also been detained after their husbands tried to avoid conscription. The Tigrayan People's Liberation Front , 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.
Elderly men have also "been forced to be on a war footing in many areas and in most cases, the operation of the conscription is being carried out arbitrarily", one source said.He said his sister-in-law had fled with the couple's children to her parent's village, and he feared that his brother had been detained.