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Ethiopia’s army has gained full control of the capital of the challenging region of Tigray, the army announced on Saturday after Tigray TV reported that the city of half a million people was being “heavily bombed” in the latest effort to arrest to the leaders of the region.
The army chief of staff, General Birhanu Jula, made the comment about Mekele’s military control while speaking on an Ethiopian state broadcast. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a separate statement: “We have entered Mekele without innocent civilians being targeted.”
None mentioned the arrest of any of the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which runs the region. The Tigray leader could not be reached.
With communications cut off to the region of 6 million people, it is difficult to verify the claims of the conflicting parties. Each government considers the other illegal.
Millions of civilians have been affected as the fighting lasts for almost a month.
Aid workers confirmed the shelling that began early Saturday in Mekele, a densely populated city, which immediately raised concern for civilian casualties.
The Ethiopian government had warned the residents of Mekele that “there would be no mercy” if they did not get away from the TPLF leaders in time. The United Nations said some residents fled as the tanks approached and Abiy’s 72-hour ultimatum for TPLF leaders to surrender expired.
The alarm soared again on Saturday as Ethiopian forces appeared to realize the “final phase” of the conflict, although the heavily armed TPLF has long experience fighting in the region’s rugged terrain and some experts have warned of a protracted conflict. .
“The United States is deeply concerned about the worsening situation in the Tigray region,” US Ambassador to the UN Kelly Craft tweeted after the bombing began. He called for dialogue, the protection of civilians and access to aid.
“I invite everyone to pray for Ethiopia, where armed clashes have escalated and are causing a serious humanitarian situation,” Pope Francis tweeted.
Nariman El-Mofty / AP
The TPLF once dominated the country’s ruling coalition, but was sidelined under new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Abiy now rejects dialogue with the TPLF, most recently in his meeting Friday with African Union envoys.
When Ethiopian forces entered, Major General Hassan Ibrahim promised to capture the city “on all fronts”.
“It is possible that some of the wanted people will go to their families or neighboring areas and try to hide for a few days. But our military, after taking control of the city of Mekele, will be tasked with hunting down and capturing these criminals. one by one. one wherever they are, “he said in comments posted by the Ethiopian News Agency.
The Tigray region has been almost completely isolated from the outside world since November 4, when Abiy announced a military offensive in response to a TPLF attack on a military base. Humanitarians have said that at least hundreds of people have died.
The fighting threatens to destabilize Ethiopia, which has been described as the hub of the strategic Horn of Africa.
With transport links cut, food and other supplies are running low in Tigray, home to 6 million people, and the United Nations has called for immediate and unhindered access to help.
Nearly 1 million people have been displaced in the region, the UN said in an update on Saturday, citing local authorities.
The office of the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said it has “expressed grave concern about the consequences of the Ethiopian conflict for the civilian population and the spread of hate speech and reports of ethnic discrimination.”
Multiple crises grow. More than 43,000 refugees have fled to Sudan, where people struggle to provide them with food, shelter and care. The International Committee of the Red Cross says Tigray hospitals are running out of drugs. And fighting near camps hosting 96,000 Eritrean refugees in northern Ethiopia has put them in the line of fire.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi on Saturday visited the Umm Rakouba refugee camp in Sudan, which is home to some 10,000 refugees. He said about $ 150 million is needed over the next six months to help Sudan handle the influx.
It is worrying that refugees in Sudan have told The Associated Press that Ethiopian forces near the border are preventing people from leaving. AP reporters saw crossings slow to a minimum in recent days. The Ethiopian government has not spoken.
“We have seen that the number of people declines but continues. Five to 600 per day is not a small number, make no mistake. It is true that there were days when they were in the thousands, but it also depends on the difficulty of moving through their country and on the border, “said Grandi.
Access to Tigray is “the main obstacle at the moment,” he said, urging the Abiy government to “give us corridors or whatever they call it to provide assistance.”
