As it descended toward the regional capital of Tigray, curling through rocky hills and remote hamlets, people clustered along the route in celebration. The leader of Tigray, Debretsion Gebremichael, was going home. Two days earlier, his scrappy guerrilla force had retaken the regional capital, Mekelle, hours after Ethiopian troops suddenly abandoned the city. “I didn’t expect to make it back alive,” Mr. Debretsion said on Thursday night in an interview, his first since the fall of Mekelle. The most important thing is that my people are free — free from the invaders.

Source: International New York Times July 03, 2021 15:11 UTC