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Since November 4, the Ethiopian government has been trying to quell a rebellion by a powerful ethnic faction, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), in a war that has rocked the Horn of Africa. Thousands of people are believed to have died and nearly a million have been forced from their homes, including some 43,000 refugees who fled to neighboring Sudan.
In a statement on Twitter on Saturday, Abiy said he was “pleased” to share that military operations in the Tigray region had been “completed and ceased.”
“Now we have before us the critical task of rebuilding what has been destroyed; repair the damaged; return those who have fled, with the highest priority of restoring normalcy to the people of the Tigray region, “he said, adding that the federal police will continue to search for and detain the” criminals “of the TPLF and take them to court. .
Hours later, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael said heavily armed Tigrayan forces would continue to fight the government.
“Their brutality can only add (to) our determination to fight these invaders to the end,” he told Reuters in a text message. When asked if that meant his forces would continue to fight, he replied: “Certainly. It is about defending our right to self-determination ”.
Abiy’s claim to victory came after the country’s army chief, General Birhanu Jula, announced that government forces “completely controlled Mekelle.” The Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation quoted him as saying that 7,000 members of the Army Northern Command who were taken hostage by the TPLF had also been released.
Some Ethiopians at home and in the diaspora rejoiced at the news that Mekelle was under the control of the military.
“Thank Almighty God our creator. Amen. May peace prevail in Ethiopia! “Former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn tweeted.
The government had given the TPLF an ultimatum that expired on Wednesday to surrender or face an assault on Mekelle, a city of 500,000 people. And Abiy announced Thursday that it had ordered a “final” offensive against the TPLF.
Earlier on Saturday, Debretsion, the TPLF leader, said Mekelle was under “heavy bombardment.” A diplomat in direct contact with residents also said that federal forces had begun an offensive to capture the city.
The claims of all parties are difficult to verify as telephone and internet links to Tigray were cut and access was strictly controlled since the fighting began.
Abiy did not mention in his remarks whether there were casualties in the offensive to capture Mekelle.
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb, reporting from neighboring Kenya’s capital Nairobi, said events late Saturday suggested that “the large number of fighters and substantial military equipment believed to be controlling the TPLF had already withdrawn tactically to the surrounding mountains. “
He added: “It seems they have chosen not to use the resources they have to fight to control the city. This would certainly be a relief for many people: human rights groups and others have been warning of a possible disaster if there had been heavy fighting and shelling in the city. “
A TPLF official told Al Jazeera earlier this week that Mekelle’s downfall would not spell the end of their fight.
“Our forces still control much of rural Tigray and our governance structure remains intact in these areas,” said Fesseha Tessema. “There is no military solution, only a negotiated policy.”
The prime minister has so far rejected attempts at mediation. Abiy accuses the Tigray leaders of starting the war by attacking federal troops at a base in Tigray. The TPLF says the attack was a pre-emptive raid.
The heavily armed TPLF has long experience fighting in the region’s rugged terrain and some experts have warned of a protracted conflict that could destabilize the broader Horn of Africa region.
Martin Plaut, a senior fellow at the Institute for Commonwealth Studies, said there were reports of explosions in the capital of neighboring Eritrea after the fall of Mekelle.
It was unclear who was behind the attack, but the TPLF had previously fired rockets at Asmara after accusing Eritrea of sending troops to support Abiy’s offensive in Tigray.
“This is clearly a regional war now,” Plaut said. “The real question now is whether Sudan will allow aid and assistance in Tigray, including things like fuel that the Tigrayans will need if they are to mount a guerilla war like they did for almost two decades until 1991.”
Launched as a fledgling fighting group in the 1970s, the TPLF led a movement that came to power in 1991 after overthrowing the communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam. He established a multi-ethnic governing coalition that was dominated by the Tigraya ethnic group for decades.
That changed in 2018, when Abiy took office after massive anti-government protests. Since then, TPLF leaders have complained that they have been unfairly singled out, marginalized and blamed for the ills of the country.
The latest conflict in Ethiopia has threatened to cause a major humanitarian crisis and the United Nations has called for immediate and unhindered access to the Tigray region to deliver aid.
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, who visited a Sudanese camp hosting some 10,000 Ethiopian refugees, said that around $ 150 million is needed to help displaced people over the next six months.
“We have seen how the number of people declines but continues. 500 to 600 per day is not a small number, make no mistake. It is true that there were days when there were thousands, but it also depends on the difficulty of moving through your country and on the border, ”Grandi said at the Umm Rakouba camp in Sudan on Saturday.
Access to Tigray is “the main obstacle right now,” he said, urging the Abiy government to “give us corridors, or whatever they call it, to provide assistance.”
Grandi also said he was deeply concerned about the 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia, and what he called unconfirmed reports of violence against them.
Zadig Abraha, Ethiopia’s democratization minister, told the AP that “once we have made sure there are no security threats,” a humanitarian corridor will be allowed in a few days.
As for restoring communications with Tigray, “it depends on the type of damage suffered,” he said.
When asked about allowing independent investigations into alleged abuses during the fighting, Zadig replied: “We have nothing to hide.”
