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There are about half a million inhabitants in the city.
The UN fears that war crimes may occur.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michele Bachelet, tells the BBC that the city’s residents are in “great danger.”
It is not yet known how far the army is from Mekele. All communication in the area is blocked.
The order came after a 72-hour deadline for Tigray regional authorities to lay down their arms.
A photo taken from the air shows the graves of the victims who were allegedly killed during a massacre in the city of Mai Kadra on November 9, according to a local human rights group.
Photo: Eduardo Soteras / AFP
Orderly attack
The Prime Minister’s order allows the Ethiopian army to launch its attack with tanks and battalions that have been drawing ever closer to the city over the last week.
“Ethiopia’s national defense forces have been ordered to begin the third and final phase of our operation for the rule of law,” Abiy Ahmed Ali said on Thursday.
The Prime Minister and Peace Prize winner Abiy Ahmed Ali ordered the army to attack Mekele.
Photo: Samuel Habtab / AP
The government of the Peace Prize winner previously warned that no mercy will be shown to people who do not escape in time.
Ask people to stay inside
However, in Thursday’s statement, Abiy Ahmed Ali says that the civilian population will be taken into account.
– In this last phase, we will do everything possible to protect innocent civilians. We will do our best to ensure that the city of Mekele, which was built thanks to the hard work of our people, is not seriously damaged, he says.
He also asked city residents to stay inside. And he promised to help the region with emergency aid such as food, water and medicine.
A satellite image taken on Monday, November 23, shows cars queuing for fuel in Mekele.
Photo: AP
Border highway closed
The war, which experts say has been in the works since Abiy Ahmed Ali returned home from Norway after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize a year ago, broke out in early November.
It happened after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Tigray (TPLF) held regional elections that the Addis Ababa authorities did not recognize.
Attempts to establish a dialogue have been unsuccessful.
The conflict has caused more than 40,000 people to cross the border into neighboring Sudan.
The neighboring country, which is already poor, is struggling to care for them, and it has been warned that the civil war could escalate into a regional conflict.
Several thousand have fled Tigray for Sudan.
Photo: Nariman El-mofty / AP
UN warns of lack of resources
According to the UN agency World Food Program (WFP), there is now a critical shortage of resources in Tigray.
They warn that the civilian population of Tigray is running out of money and fuel, that more than 1 million people are internally displaced and that 100,000 Eritrean refugees will be left without food in a week.
The Tigray region was completely isolated from the outside world after the outbreak of the war.
TPLF management has reached out to the outside world via satellite phone and announced that Tigray is ready to fight to the last man.
