Minister Abiy Ahmed
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Tuesday
military operations in the northern Tigray region would enter a
“final” phase, as global pressure mounted to bring the two-week-old
conflict to a swift end.
Abiy, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, announced the
campaign against Tigray’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s
Liberation Front (TPLF), on November 4, saying it came in response
to attacks by the TPLF on federal military camps.
The fighting has left hundreds dead and prompted around 25,000
Ethiopians to flee across the border into Sudan, with many more
refugees expected.
On Friday Abiy declared the TPLF was “in the final throes of
death” and gave troops in the region three days to “rise up” and
side with the national army.
In a Facebook post-Tuesday morning, he said their time was
up.
“The three-day deadline for the Tigray regional special forces
and militia to hand themselves over to national defence forces
instead of being a tool for the greedy junta has expired. Those
Tigray special forces and militia who used the three-day deadline
are appreciated,” he said.
“Since the deadline has been completed, in the coming days the
final law enforcement activities will be done.”
A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to
assess how the fighting is going.
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Federal forces claim to control Tigray’s western zone, where
fighting has been heavy, and over the weekend said they had seized
the town of Alamata, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of the
regional capital, Mekele.
But Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP Tuesday
that “the government and people of Tigray” would hold their ground,
meaning fighting would continue.
“This campaign cannot be finished. As long as the army of the
invaders is in our land, the fight will continue. They cannot keep
us silent by military force,” he said.
Abiy has resisted calls by world leaders to cease hostilities
and accept mediation.
In recent days the TPLF has fired rockets on airports in
Ethiopia’s Amhara region, south of Tigray, and in the capital of
neighbouring Eritrea.
The TPLF accuses Ethiopia of enlisting Eritrean soldiers in the
fight, which Ethiopia denies.
The strikes on Asmara in particular have reinforced fears
Ethiopia’s conflict could draw in the wider Horn of Africa
region.
The Nobel Committee, which awarded its prestigious peace prize
to Abiy for his efforts to heal divisions with Eritrea, said late
Monday it was “deeply concerned”.
-AFP