Members of the Rebel Group Benishangul People Liberation Movement Defected from Eritrea

Tigrai Online, July 11, 2017

One hundred and fifty members of the Rebel Group Benishangul People Liberation Movement Defected from Eritrea to the Sudan and 95 of them crossed the border and gave their hands to the Ethiopian government. The remaining 55 members of the groups expected to arrive in Ethiopia very soon.

The rebel group had been based in Harina rebel training center for the past ten years. The groups calling itself Benishangul People Liberation Movement like the rest of the terrorist groups based in its country was supported financially and militarily by the Egyptian government through the Arab housemaid Eritrean government.

In the recent few years due to the choke-hold the EPRDF (“Woyane”) has on the mafia PFDJ group in Eritrea, most of the rebel/terrorist groups are defecting to Ethiopia by the thousands. Two years ago thousands of elite TPDM fighters which are supposedly the best trained and armed group in Eritrea fought their way out of Eritrea. The TPDM group led by Mola Asgedom is now safely integrated to their community in Ethiopia.

Last year many members of the group Arbegnoch Ginbot-7 surrendered to Ethiopian security forces.  Not long ago another group Benishangul People Liberation Movement Defected to the Ethiopian government.

Many people from Ethiopia and Eritrea are asking why is the Ethiopian government so tolerant towards the Eritrean government, knowing the entire anti Ethiopian rebel groups are based, trained, armed, and supported by Eritrea. The answer is surprisingly simple, the EPRDF government does not see the PFDJ group as a strategic threat, but as a nuisance constantly annoying it. After the decisive blow dealt to the brutal group in Eritrea in the 1998-2000 Badme war, the military capabilities of the Eritrean army has been reduced to meaningless issue that does not require a huge offensive.

The BPLM group who just arrived in Ethiopia a couple of days ago said Egyptian and Eritrean officials have been relentlessly hounding them to carry out an attack on the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam which is near completion. The group indicted one of the main reasons is they were pressured to by the Eritreans and Egyptians to damage the hydro electric dam which happens to be located in the Benishangul Gumuz Regional State.

Diplomatically Ethiopia has cornered the Eritrean mafia group thanks to their foolish policies towards their own people, the international community does not need any witnesses because the crimes of the group are in the open for all to see.

Ethiopia has been hinting a change in policy towards the Eritrean government recently, but details of the changed policy are yet to be public. Most Horn of Africa analysts think the Ethiopian government might be in a position to take more aggressive stance towards the one man regime in Eritrea. Some say Ethiopia might take more direct support to the Eritrean opposition groups to oust their dictator from power.

In the past couple of years there are unusual political grassroots movements based inside and outside Eritrea. One of them is the Agazian movement mainly by the Eritrean youth. There are many groups by the same name, but we are not sure how many groups there for worldwide or many members they have. One thing is absolutely clear the mafia PFDJ group in Eritrea and some groups in Ethiopia are worried about these groups. We will publish an article about this subject matter in due time.

In the meantime the African Union was not allowed to visit Eritrea to arrange peacekeeping mission between Djibouti and Eritrea. A few weeks ago Djibouti accused Eritrea invading a disputed territory between the two countries after the Qatari peace keeper force withdrew.  “At the request of the Eritrean authorities and due to a conflicting calendar, new dates will be agreed upon through consultations with the Eritrean government”, said an AU statement.  The Eritrean government is trying to extend the time or prevent the deployment of African Union peacekeeping force in its border with Djibouti. The reason is the African forces man not be as friendly to the Eritrean government or as harmful to Ethiopia.

One hundred and fifty members of the Rebel Group Benishangul People Liberation Movement Defected from Eritrea to the Sudan and 95 of them crossed the border and gave their hands to the Ethiopian government.

On the other hand the IGAD Council of Ministers held its 57th Extra-Ordinary session on July, 2, 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia regarding the current conflict between Eritrea and Djibouti.  The council of ministers of IGAD passed the following recommendations on the issue.

1. Takes note of the brief of the Foreign Minister of Djibouti, voicing the concern of the Republic of Djibouti regarding the new development of the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea that has been triggered as a result of the evacuation of the Qatari forces from the area;


2. Urges the African Union to champion the cause of peace and fill the vacuum created by the withdrawal of Qatari forces in order to expedite the demarcation and the delimitation of the border of Dumera and the Island of Dumera in order to avoid any escalation of conflicts between the two countries in the future.


3. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

It seems the regime in Eritrea is addicted to endless conflict with its neighbors. When some was suggesting Eritrea might be out of the woods the moronic leaders plunge it yet to another dispute. This is not a typical border problem, because it will directly affect Ethiopia since Ethiopia uses Djibouti for its majority of export and import gate. Any conflict that would disrupt the smooth operation of the port of Djibouti will be considered a direct attack on Ethiopian sovereignty and it will be met with a decisive force.