Conflict continues to escalate

THE conflict in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia has been going on for more than a year. While major fighting has been between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopian government forces, armed groups from neighbouring Eritrea have also been involved.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday urged Tigrayan rebels to surrender, claiming government forces were nearing victory just one week after he vowed to lead military operations at the front.

It seems the gloves are off in the continuing conflict, which has led to scores of civilian deaths and several hundred thousand displaced. Abiy recently ordered troops to “destroy” the enemy.

In 2019, Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for bringing an end to the 20-year stalemate with Eritrea. But critics say in Ethiopia’s war Tigray region is a rapid reversal.

Abiy reiterated that TPLF is still a terrorist organisation employing the same tactics as similar organisations the international community has been fighting in other parts of the world under the banner of “national interest”, “democracy” and “regional stability”.

The TPLF is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, previously paramilitary group, former political party and former ruling party of Ethiopia.

According to reports, fighting has spread from the Tigray region, which was the focus of the early part of the conflict. The TPLF and its allies continue to move south from their base in Mekelle in the north and have seized strategically important towns such as Lalibela and Dessie.

The Ethiopian government has expressed fears that the fighting may soon engulf the capital, Addis Ababa.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday reaffirmed that the Ethiopian political system and the government offer for national dialogue provided all the room needed to accommodate contestation with opposition groups.

UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said Ethiopia risks descending into sectarian violence and experiencing a chaotic, Kabulstyle exodus if the conflict spreads to the capital.

Abiy tweeted: “When the Ethiopian people unite in all fields, the result is victory. In person, in diplomacy, in economics, in communication, in food preparation, in caring for a soldier, in maintaining order, in supporting the displaced. Congratulations on all fronts for your entire campaign!”

The TPLF, which qualifies as a

Tier III terrorist by US homeland security, incited the conflict. Yet, a democratically elected government is equated with the clique just because TPLF has best friends in hegemonic circles in the West, said the prime minister.

“It is erroneously reported by many that media have been clamped down by the SOE (state of emergency) from reporting on the conflict while the SOE prohibits unauthorised entities from announcing battlefront activities which have not been verified through the appropriate security channels.”

Abiy said the purposeful crafting of the situation as genocide and ethnic cleansing continued by TPLF and their foreign allies to facilitate intervention, while the war has not been in the Tigray region for five months now.

He said attempts to silence proethiopia voices and propping up of PRO-TPLF narrative were seen.

Abiy said that some western media are dominated by the antiethiopian government perspective, adding that such trends have been repeatedly used in many countries where media was used to effectively demonise governments and their leaders in order to facilitate regime change. |