Ethiopia: Abiy Ahmed orders final offensive against Tigray authorities in Mekele
View of the Tigrayan capital Mekele in Ethiopia, January 25, 2018. Wikimedia Commons Copyleft A. Savin
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2 min
In Ethiopia, the Battle of Mekele is said to be about to begin.
The Prime Minister announced that the 72-hour ultimatum given to the TPLF and to the power of the Tigray region had expired.
The army was therefore ordered to carry out the "last phase" of the offensive launched on November 4.
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With our correspondent in the region,
Sébastien Németh
The federal army is said to be on the verge of attacking
Mekele, the heart of the TPLF's power
.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed does not hide his confidence in declaring that thousands of Tigrayan soldiers and militiamen have surrendered.
However, this information is impossible to verify because the region remains cut off from the world.
On the Tigrayan side, Getachew Reda, adviser to the presidency, told him about a "people's
war where each inhabitant will defend himself, whether he carries a weapon or not
".
The concern is therefore at the highest, while the capital of Tigray has half a million inhabitants and the Prime Minister has already announced that the assault would be "
merciless
".
The UN has reported that the population is fleeing the city, but it is unclear in what proportion.
She is already suffering from severe shortages of gasoline, food and medicine.
Human rights defenders
call on the parties to spare the population as much as possible
, recalling that international humanitarian law applied in this internal conflict in Ethiopia.
Anticipating criticism, the Prime Minister explained that the army would be "
particularly vigilant as regards the protection of civilians.
That all precautions would be taken to protect heritage, places of worship, infrastructure or even residential areas
”.
But given the intensity of the fighting in the rest of the region, the high number of victims, the use of fighter planes and tanks, Abiy Ahmed's words are far from reassuring.
► Also to listen: "They burned our houses": on the Ethiopian border, the exile of refugees intensifies
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