Nairobi, Kenya (AP) – Ethiopian military in the besieged Tigris regional capital is warning civilians not to “pity” themselves if they do not defend themselves before a final offensive to oust notorious regional leaders – Human Rights Watch said on Sunday. Can happen.
Spokesman Colonel Dijen Tsegay said late Saturday night that from now on the battle would be a tank battle, stressing that the army was marching on Macaulay, the capital of Tigris, and would surround it with tanks. “McLean should notify our people that they must defend themselves from heavy artillery.”
He accused the Tigre leaders of hiding among a population of about fifty million people and warned citizens to stay away from them.
But, “It is not only illegal to consider the whole city as a military target, but it can also be considered as a form of collective punishment,” Laetitia Beder, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, tweeted on Sunday.
Susan Rice, a former U.S. national security adviser, tweeted, “In other words, war crimes.”
In a new statement, Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning Prime Minister Abi Ahmed surrendered to the leaders of the Tigre People’s Liberation Front, saying, “You will not return.” He accused TPLF leaders of using religious places, hotels, schools “and even cemeteries” and using McLean residents as human ieldals.
For several days, Abi’s government insisted that it was heading to McCall in the final pressure to end the deadly conflict that erupted on November 4 between the federal government and the heavily armed Tigris regional government. The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for a quarter of a century, while Abi took power and introduced dramatic political reforms and ousted TPLF leaders.
Now, with each side denouncing the other as illegitimate, international requests for dialogue make it surprising that one of Africa’s most powerful and populous countries could destabilize and destabilize Africa’s strategic horn.
Since communications and transport in the Tigre region are almost completely separated, it is difficult to verify the claims of the warring parties.
And the Ethiopian government has expelled an analyst with the international crisis group William Davison. The organization said the government had given no formal reason, but “ultimately, there is little doubt that the reason for their deportation is related to the current tense situation in the country and the growing sensitivity of the authorities who do not want to turn the line.” “
It added: “It is noteworthy that Mr Davison was fired on the same day. Authorities also issued warning letters to the Ethiopian correspondent for the news agency Reuters and to the BBC and Dosche Vale stations.”
Meanwhile, a massive humanitarian crisis is unfolding, with the United Nations saying about 2 million people in Tigris need immediate assistance as food, fuel, medical and other supplies run at extremely short rates.
Two refugee crises are on the rise. More than 35,000 Ethiopians have fled to remote areas of Sudan, where local communities and humanitarian doctors have struggled to feed and accommodate them. And within the Tigris region, fighting has come closer to the camp of about 100,000 refugees from Eritrea. Some Eritreans have now fled to Sudan for the second time.
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