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The Ethiopian government said on Thursday that its army was marching towards Tigray’s capital, Mekelle. “Our defense forces are advancing and closing in on Mekele,” Redwan Hussein, Ethiopia’s foreign minister, told reporters in Addis Ababa. “There are several cities that have fallen.”
Tigray regional president Debre Tsion Gebremichael told Mekele-based Dimtse Woyane that the federal army had taken control of Shire and Raya, adding that it was a “temporary victory.”
Federal forces had “liberated” the towns of Raya, Chercher, Gugufto and Mehoni on the eastern front, and Shire on the western front of the conflict, Fana TV, a state affiliate. On the western front, the Adi Nebrid and Adi Daero trenches were demolished and the army seized control of Shire and headed for Aksum, he said.
Although he admitted that he had lost ground in the south and that federal soldiers had taken the city of Shire to the west, the TPLF leader said he still controlled the city of Axum, some 215 km northwest of Mekelle.
