Ethiopian Prime Minister: We will defend ourselves and repel attacks by "external enemies"

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed promised Wednesday to "repel enemy attacks" after a new rebel offensive in Tigray, the northernmost region of the country that has been witnessing a war and a serious humanitarian crisis for eight months.

On Monday, the rebel forces, the Tigray Defense Forces, launched a new offensive in the south and west of the region.

It regained control of much of Tigray at the end of June, prompting the government to declare a ceasefire.

"We will defend ourselves and fend off these attacks from our internal and external enemies while accelerating humanitarian efforts," Abyei said in a statement on Twitter.

The prime minister did not mention who he meant by "external enemies."

On the fourth of November, the Ethiopian Prime Minister, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, launched a military operation in Tigray to expel and disarm the authorities representing the Tigray People's Liberation Front after months of tension.

The Ethiopian government declared victory after the federal army entered the regional capital, Mekele, on November 28.

But the fighting continued and the conflict took a turn at the end of June when the rebels regained control of much of Tigray, including Mekele, prompting the government to declare a unilateral ceasefire.

After they described the cease-fire as a "joke", the Defense Forces of Degray accepted it in principle, but with conditions, notably the return of the Amhara and Eritrean forces to their "pre-war lands."

Troops from the neighboring Amhara region as well as from Eritrea to the northern border of Tigray had supported the federal army since the conflict began.

Until now, the Amhara forces controlled southern and western Tigray, territories they had long claimed.

On Tuesday morning, rebel spokesman Getachew Reda told AFP that a new offensive was launched a day earlier in these two areas with the aim of "liberating every square centimeter of Tigray".

In particular, he said, the Tigray Defense Forces control most of the south of the region, including the main town of Alamata.

It is difficult to verify these comments, as communication networks have been largely cut off in Tigray.

Amhara state, the country's second most populous state, said in a statement that "all Ethiopians should provide meaningful support to law enforcement efforts against the Tigray People's Liberation Front."

After confirming, on Wednesday, that the rebel forces had resumed fighting, accusing them of "sacrificing boys and young men", Abyei mentioned that the government announced that it "gives people a respite during the agricultural season and allows humanitarian aid operations to operate without hindrance."

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