ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister has ordered federal military forces to launch a “final offensive” on the capital of the restive Tigray region after his 72-hour ultimatum for dissident local leaders to surrender expired.
In a statement posted on social
media, Abiy Ahmed said great care would be taken to protect innocent civilians
from harm and said efforts would be made by government troops to ensure the
city of Mekelle, which has a population of 500,000, was not “severely damaged”.
“We call on the people of Mekelle
and its environs to disarm, stay at home and stay away from military targets
[and] to do their part in reducing damages to be sustained because of a handful
of criminal elements,” Ahmed said.
Earlier this week, military
officials warned of “no mercy” if residents of Mekelle did not distance
themselves from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the
local ruling party.
Debretsion Gebremichael, the
leader of the TPLF, said on Tuesday his people were “ready to die” defending
their homeland.
Abiy launched the military
campaign against the TPLF on 4 November, accusing it of attacking
federal military camps in the northern region and seeking to destabilise the
country.
The 44-year-old leader, who won the Nobel peace prize last year for his peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, said the TPLF had orchestrated a “spate of violent attacks” across Ethiopia to “frustrate the democratisation process”.
Officials in Addis Ababa, the
Ethiopian capital, describe the offensive in Tigray as a “law enforcement
operation” aiming to remove “traitorous” rebel leaders and restore central
authority. The TPLF says it is defending its legitimate rights under Ethiopia’s
devolved constitutional system.
Hundreds, possibly thousands,
have died in the conflict so far, with up to a million people displaced. At
least one massacre has taken place, with allegations of atrocities made against
both sides.
Last-minute efforts by the
African Union and the United Nations to defuse the crisis have failed. Abiy on
Wednesday rejected international “interference”.
The UN says shortages have become
“very critical” in the Tigray region, with fuel and cash running out. Food for
nearly 100,000 refugees from Eritrea will be gone in a week, according to a
report released overnight. More than 600,000 people who rely on monthly food
rations have not received them this month.
Travel blockages are so dire that
even within Mekelle, the UN World Food Programme cannot transport food from its
warehouses there.
Communications and travel links
remain severed with the Tigray region since the conflict broke out, and Human
Rights Watch is warning that “actions that deliberately impede relief supplies”
violate international humanitarian law.
The UN has reported people fleeing
Mekelle, but with communications cut, it is unclear how many residents are
aware of the impending assault.
The head of the Ethiopian Human
Rights Commission said on Thursday that “extreme
caution to avoid civilian harm is of even greater importance, now, at this
stage of the conflict”. – The Guardian
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