As the funeral drew to a close, distraught guests were aghast as regional Ethiopian forces stormed the gathering and arrested young attendees, bundling them into vans destined for army training camps.Witnesses and NGOs have denounced a forced recruitment campaign by the authorities in Tigray, the northern Ethiopian state, which has fought the federal government in recent years and again looks on the verge of conflict.'We were suddenly rounded up and detained,' said Abel, a man in his 20s, now in hiding after he escaped by bribing a guard.Abel is not one to shirk a fight: he volunteered in 2020 when the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) began a bloody two-year war against the federal government that claimed at least 600,000 lives, according to African Union estimates.A 2022 ceasefire has never been fully implemented, and now both sides accuse the other of preparing a new offensive, with troops massing on the region's border, according to security sources.NGOs allege that forced conscription is once again happening in Tigray, with young men snatched from their homes and the streets in preparation for the war.Human Rights First-Ethiopia said there were indications that 'forced military recruitment is taking place across most areas of Tigray'.The NGO interviewed 27 witnesses, including 35-year-old Gebre, who said he was arrested in March in northern Tigray as he was opening his shop.'They informed us that we were entering the military,' he said, describing how he managed to escape by jumping out of a window.Gebre now lives in hiding, missing his five-year-old son.Kinfe, 36, who fled to the federal capital, Addis Ababa, said forced conscription was not new in Tigray.During the recent civil war, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant political party in the region, went door-to-door to check each family had contributed at least one son. If not, Kinfe told AFP, the parents had to volunteer.This time, the TPLF has blockaded roads, trapping and detaining young people, before transferring them to a compound and then a camp.Alem, also hiding and near-destitute in the capital, said conscription had begun in his area roughly a month ago.'At first it seemed to be targeted operations, but progressively it came to target all young people,' he said.'I saw security forces unleash warning shots into the air to stop young people fleeing,' he added.Amanuel Assefa, TPLF vice-president, told AFP military recruitment was usually 'only based on consent'.However, he added there are 'exceptional provisions' because 'every Tigrayan has to defend the territory against an existential threat'.Federal authorities did not respond to AFP's requests for comment.Ethiopia's constitution forbids arbitrary detention and forced recruitment.The trauma and exhaustion of the previous war lingers in Tigray, discouraging many from re-joining the military.'Nearly every family lost a family member,' said Kinfe.Many were bitter at how their leaders behaved after the war.'They kept their comfort while forgetting the martyrs,' he said, making many believe any future war will only benefit the 'few' on top.'The war shouldn't happen, it has to be solved politically. Firing bullets solves nothing,' he said.
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