Conflict in Ethiopia: calls for de-escalation remain ineffective
View of the town of Mekele, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, on December 10, 2018 (illustration).
Maggie Fick / Reuters
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Fighting continues for the sixth day in a row in northern Ethiopia.
The federal army faces troops from Tigray, a region at odds with the central power of Addis Ababa.
Roads and communications are cut off with the area and it remains difficult to realize the extent of the violence.
Calls for de-escalation continue, but the federal state does not seem to want to calm things down.
Publicity
Read more
With our regional correspondent in Nairobi,
Sébastien Németh
Abiy Ahmed
continues in the same tone.
This Monday morning, the Ethiopian Prime Minister defined the federal offensive as an "
operation of application of the rule of law
", to "
bring to justice those who cause instability
".
The head of government refuses for the moment any mediation.
On Sunday, Pope Francis called "
for fraternal respect and peaceful reconciliation
".
The sovereign pontiff was therefore not heard.
Moreover, the deaf dialogue continues, even if on Sunday, the president
of Tigray
seemed to open a door.
Debretsion Gebremichael announced that “
the region will continue to defend itself until the federal government agrees to negotiate
”.
On the ground, difficult to see clearly.
Roads and communications are cut off.
At the weekend, the Central Bank even ordered the closure of more than 600 commercial bank branches in Tigray.
Officially because of looting.
What to suffocate a little more the region.
Militarily, each camp highlights its successes.
The Chief of Staff speaks of the conquest of towns, of the destruction of heavy weapons.
On the Tigrayan side, we deny the slightest federal decision.
Yesterday an adviser explained that an army plane had even been shot down.
The longer the fights last, the more we fear a hardening.
This morning, the Addis Ababa commissioner announced the seizure of 355 weapons and the arrest of 162 suspects.
The Sudanese authorities for their part got hold of 95,000 ammunition loaded on carts pulled by donkeys.
The convoy was preparing to cross the border.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Ethiopia
Abiy Ahmed
On the same subject
Reportage
Ethiopia: in Gondar, the populations mobilized to support the war effort
Ethiopia: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sacks army chief
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa's great anger against Tigray