Sources have revealed that Eritrea President Isaias Afwerki has refused to release thousands of Somali cadets, sent to Eritrea for training in 2019 secretly and never came back home, until he is paid the training fee amounting to more than $50 million dollars.
According to a UN report they were spotted in Tigray fighting alongside Ethiopian and Eritrean forces against Tigray defense forces.
The boys' parents have been demanding their return since last year. Most people in Tigray believe that hundreds of them have died in clashes at the beginnen of the Tigray war back in november 2020 when they fought alongside Eritrean troops around Zalambesa in Northern Tigray.