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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
The Ethiopian army surrounded the city of Mekele, capital of the regional state of Tigray, on Wednesday when the rebels refused to surrender.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s four-day deadline for Tigray’s forces to surrender is about to expire.
Ethiopia launched an operation on 4 November against the forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party that controlled Tigray, accusing it of attacking a military base to steal weapons.
Thousands of people have fled to Sudan amid fighting between the National Defense Forces and fighters loyal to the TPLF.
The former Ethiopian official turned rebel spokesman Getachew Reda in a recorded video encouraged the residents of Mekele to “use knives and all tools that are useful to resist” the Ethiopian army.
He added that “the Abiy forces can capture Mekele, but the people cannot be ruled.”
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s politics for decades before Abiy took office in 2018.
Last year, the prime minister dissolved the ruling coalition and merged them into a single national party, which the TPLF refused to join.
Tensions escalated when Tigray held a regional election in September, challenging a national ban on all polls due to the coronavirus pandemic. The vote was classified as illegal by the federal government.
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