In December 2020, Alex de Waal argued that Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki had "the intention of annihilating the [Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF)] and reducing Tigray to a condition of complete incapacity." De Waal argued for "intent" by Isaias by referring to "eleven high-ranking colleagues [of Isaias], heroes of the [Eritrean War of Independence] ... and ten journalists" who were arrested in 2001 and remained missing.