Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged on Sunday to eradicate the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) soon, while authorities in Addis Ababa arrested hundreds of people on charges of supporting the LTTE rebels.

The Prime Minister said that the enemy that Ethiopia is facing is a "cancer of Ethiopia", and that the Tigray Liberation Front is the only group in history that used its political power to destroy its country, he said.

In a tweet on Twitter, Abiy Ahmed vowed to uproot the front's military council so that it would not grow again.

He stressed that the Ethiopian federal and regional forces are taking their rightful place, and that they are responding to the ceasefire decision despite the harassment.

He said that the Ethiopian government has a clear plan to respond to the Popular Front in a short time, adding, "All friends and enemies will see the results. And the army is ready for the task."

arrest campaign

In the same context, the Ethiopian authorities arrested hundreds of people in the capital, Addis Ababa, on suspicion of supporting the Tigray rebels in the north of the country.

Addis Ababa's police commissioner, Gito Argao, said the detainees had possible links with the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Argao told the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation that "323 people suspected of providing assistance to the Tigray People's Liberation Front in various activities have been arrested."

He added that "many businesses suspected of being linked to the suspects have been closed and investigated."

The commissioner indicated that some detainees are under investigation on charges of possessing weapons, using hashish, gambling, and insulting the national flag and constitution.

The arrests come at a time when the war in Tigray is taking on a new dimension with the mobilization of forces from several regions in the fight against the rebels, indicating a further escalation.

The military conflict in Tigray has killed thousands and put some 400,000 people at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations.


releasing prisoners

For his part, the leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front said that the forces of the region released about a thousand soldiers of the government forces whom they had captured during the recent battles.

The leader of the front, Dabarsiyon, Gabr Mikael, said that they had released 1,000 soldiers of low ranks.

"More than 5,000 (soldiers) are still with us and we will keep the senior officers who will be on trial," he added.

It is noteworthy that fighting broke out with the Tigray Front last November, when the government accused the Tigray Front of attacking military bases throughout the region, which the Front denied.

The government declared victory three weeks later when it captured the regional capital Maqli, but the front continued fighting.

In a dramatic turn, the LTTE regained control of Maqli and most of Tigray at the end of last June, after the government withdrew its soldiers and declared a unilateral ceasefire.

But the front vowed to continue fighting until it regained control of the disputed territories in southern and western Tigray that government allies from Amhara province seized during the fighting.