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Ethiopia’s leader has warned that “the last and crucial” military operation will soon be launched against the rulers of the rebellious northern region of Tigray.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Tuesday that the three-day deadline for surrender had expired, paving the way for a final push on Mekelle, the region’s capital.
“The latest critical act of law enforcement will take place in the next few days,” Abiy said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The prime minister’s warning came after federal government forces carried out “precision and surgical air operations” on the outskirts of Mekelle, a government emergency task force said, and ground forces pressed ahead.
The Tigray Popular Liberation Front (TPLF), which governs the region, said civilians had been killed in the attacks, allegations the working group denied.
Tigray TV showed what appeared to be a bombed-out residential area with damaged roofs and craters in the ground in Mekelle.
“I heard the sound of some explosions. Boom, boom, boom, when I walked into the house, “said a resident quoted by the station. “When I came out later, I saw all this destruction.”
With communications down and media blocked, it is impossible to independently verify claims made by either party.
Al Jazeera’s Mohammed Adow, reporting from Dejen in central Ethiopia, said the battle is reaching a decisive phase.
“The security forces are telling us that Mekelle is the necessary prize to defeat the TPLF, and in the next 48 hours they will carry out attacks on different sites in the capital of the Tigray region. They are calling this a ‘law enforcement operation’ against ‘impunity’ to end it once and for all, “he said.
In a statement, the government task force said that federal forces had “liberated” the towns of Raya, Chercher, Gugufto and Mehoni on the eastern front along with Shire on the western front from the conflict.
They had destroyed the TPLF military bases in both areas and were now heading to the state capital, Mekelle, according to the statement. “The junta force is now withdrawing, and the army is marching to bring the TPLF junta to justice.”
Later on Tuesday, the task force accused the TPLF pf of destroying bridges connecting Mekelle to the rest of the country.
“Eager for advancement [of central government forces], the junta has destroyed four bridges leading to Mekelle, ”said a statement, adding that there was also destruction on the key highway between Shire and Axum.
There were no immediate comments from the TPLF. Tigray leaders have accused federal forces of tearing down a dam and sugar factory, as well as “mercilessly” targeting people in the region of more than 5 million. The government denies targeting civilians.
‘They beat and burned’
Meanwhile, the United Nations refugee agency warned on Tuesday that a “large-scale humanitarian crisis” was unfolding in Ethiopia.
Hundreds of people are reported to have been killed since the fighting began on November 4, after Abiy accused the TPLF of attacking a federal army base.
Both sides are accused of carrying out atrocities against civilians, while more than 27,000 people have fled the intense fighting to seek refuge in neighboring Sudan. Starving, exhausted and scared Tigray refugees continue to arrive with terrifying tales of the war.
“These people come with knives and sticks, wanting to attack the citizens. And behind them is the Ethiopian army with tanks. Knives and sticks are not the problem, they are tanks, ”said one refugee, Thimon Abrah. “They hit and burned the whole place.”
“When a man, or even a child, is killed, this is revenge,” said another, Tedey Benjamin. “This is a tribal war.”
Abiy has called on the refugees to return home as his government promises the war will end quickly, although analysts fear a protracted conflict given the considerable military power on both sides.
With hundreds of thousands of Tigrayans dependent on food aid even before the conflict, the suffering is rapidly worsening even as UN and aid agency personnel are downsized for security reasons.
A convoy carrying some 200 passengers, mainly workers from international organizations, arrived in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa late Monday.
Another convoy of four buses and several cars, carrying some 400 foreigners from Mekelle, is expected to arrive in the capital on Wednesday, according to reports.
The conflict extends beyond borders
Over the weekend, Tigrayan forces fired rockets at neighboring Eritrea’s capital Asmara, escalating a conflict that threatens to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.
Federal forces claim to control western Tigray, where fighting has been intense, and over the weekend said they took the city of Alamata, south of Mekelle.
The UN, the African Union and several countries are pushing for talks, but Abiy is resisting, saying the government will only negotiate when it restores the rule of law in Tigray.
On Monday, Abiy sent his foreign minister to Uganda and Kenya to explain what the government describes as an internal conflict to the leaders of those countries. Ethiopian officials said the visits do not mean that negotiations are beginning.
“A war in Ethiopia would give the entire continent a bad image,” Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni wrote on Twitter after the meeting. “There should be negotiations and the conflict stopped, lest it lead to unnecessary loss of life and paralyze the economy.”
The Nobel Committee, which awarded Abiy its prestigious peace award for his efforts to heal divisions with Eritrea, said late Monday that it was “deeply concerned” by the fighting.
The federal government has so far rejected international requests for dialogue and de-escalation.
“The TPLF raided our Northern Command, looted our artillery and also surrounded our soldiers and took them hostage,” Zadig Abraha, the Ethiopian minister in charge of democratization, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday. “What government could possibly negotiate [after all that]? ” I ask.
The minister said that “there are conditions that the TPLF has to meet,” including the handover of the leadership “that is involved in the perpetration of this crime,” among others.
Refugees from the Tigray region register at the UNCHR center in Hamdayet, Sudan [Marwan Ali/AP]
The Abiy government considers the TPLF government illegitimate after the region held challenging local elections in September.
The TPLF had opposed the postponement of the national elections until next year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and considers the federal government of Abiy illegal, saying its term has expired.
Tigrayan leaders say Abiy, 44, a winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has persecuted them and purged them from government and security posts since taking office in 2018.
Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP news agency on Tuesday that “the government and people of Tigray” will stand firm.
“This campaign cannot be ended. As long as the army of the invaders is on our land, the fight will continue. They cannot silence us by military force, ”he said.
Tigrayan forces could attempt to excavate as the army moves into the more mountainous terrain toward Mekelle, said Matt Bryden, founder of the Nairobi-based Sahan regional think tank.
“I suppose that [the Ethiopian army] as you enter the highlands, more intense fighting is likely to begin, ”he said.
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