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The Ethiopian central government has issued an ultimatum to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the BBC reports, giving the Front 72 hours to surrender or else face an assault on the regional capital of Mekelle.
Mekelle is home to approximately 400,000 people, hundreds of whom have died in the course of November. Thousands more have been displaced. An assault on the city could trigger a humanitarian crisis, the United Nations warns. The TPLF, which refuses to recognize the central government as legitimate, has promised to keep fighting.
Before the ultimatum was issued, the Ethiopian army had threatened to surround and attack Mekelle with artillery fire if the TPLF refused to capitulate.
“His journey of destruction is coming to an end,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told the TPLF on November 22.North Dakota statement, “and we urge you to surrender peacefully within the next 72 hours, recognizing that you are at a point of no return. Take this last chance. “
Since the military began its operation against the TPLF on November 4th, the region has been subjected to a strict communications and transportation blackout. This hampers the work of aid agencies, which are already under pressure. According to the BBC, up to 96,000 Eritrean refugees reside in Tigray. Human Rights Watch director for the Horn of Africa, Laetitia Bader, says these restrictions prevent Human Rights Watch and other aid organizations from helping those in need, making them damaging to the lives of civilians. “Federal and regional authorities must respect the right to life and take all necessary measures to help and protect the population,” says Bader.
The blackout also makes it difficult to verify information from the region. Although the central government offensive appears to be succeeding, both sides have claimed successes on the ground.
According to Human Rights Watch, the conflict began after the Ethiopian government “reconfigured the ruling coalition, responsible for gross human rights abuses, into a single party and postponed the much-anticipated national elections, citing health risks related to COVID-19 “. An apparent TPLF attack on an Ethiopian military base prompted the government to begin military operations against Tigray.
The situation in Tigray is dire. As of November 10th, more than 14,000 Ethiopian refugeeshalf of them children had crossed the border into Sudan. The scale of this crisis is incredible and is likely to get worse.
The central government must heed calls to reduce escalation and allow aid agencies to reach those most in need, particularly in Mekelle, which has become the front line of the conflict.
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