The leader of Ethiopia’s disgruntled Tigris region has said his people are “ready to die” in defense of his homeland and rejects Prime Minister Abi Ahmed’s ultimatum that he will surrender within 72 hours.
The ABA launched a military operation against the Tigre People’s Liberation Front (TPL) on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military bases in Uttar Pradesh as well as trying to discredit and destabilize their government.
The federal military says its forces are within 60 km (37 miles) of McKelley, the capital of Tigris and the seat of the TPLF, ahead of a threatening bombing of a city of half a million people.
Ethiopia / Tigre map
Abi, last year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, on Sunday called on the TPLF to surrender peacefully within three days, saying they were “at the point of no return”.
But TPLF leader Debrecen Gabremaikle said Abia was trying to hide the difficulties her army had faced against the Tigrian forces, and was threatening to buy time. “He doesn’t understand who we are. We are a people of principle and ready to die in defense of our right to administer our territory, ”Debrecen told AFP on Monday via WhatsApp.
The chaos of a conversation in the region has led to claims from both sides that are difficult to verify.
On Monday, Brigadier General Tesfaye Ilev, a state-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporator, was quoted as saying that federal troops were “marching into McLean”, capturing major towns to the north and south.
The military has threatened to launch a “no mercy” tank attack on the TPLF leadership in Macaulay, raising concerns among rights officials, warning civilians to get out of where they still can.
“Treatment of the entire city as a military target is not only illegal, but can also be considered a form of collective punishment,” Human Rights Watch researcher Laitiya Beder wrote on Twitter.
Abi has urged McCall’s people to join the national army against the TPLF, “to bring this treasonous group to justice.”
Hundreds of people have been reported killed in nearly three weeks of fighting that has seen warplanes bombing the area and tanks entering the field.
Amnesty International also documented a gruesome massacre in which “scores and possibly hundreds” of people were stabbed to death in the southwestern city of Mai-Kadra.
More than 40,000 Ethiopians, meanwhile, have fled west to Sudan and rockets have landed on Eritrea to the north, threatening internal conflict outside its borders.
The UN Security Council will hold its first meeting on the conflict in Tigris, diplomatic sources said late Monday night.
They said Tuesday’s virtual meeting would not be open to the public, and it was not yet clear whether a statement would be released later.
.
