Ethiopian army contains rebellion in Northern Tigray
Nov 05, 2020(Nyamilepedia) — Latest reports from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, claim that the Ethiopian National Defense force has contained a rebellion by the Tigray People Liberation Front(TPLF) in Northern Tigray region.
Ethiopian PM Dr. Abiy Ahmed (Photo credit: File/Supplied/Nyamilepedia)
Speaking from Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the army has managed to contain the rebellion in the region warning that more operations will continue in the coming days.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner shows no sign of halting his military campaign in the Tigray region despite international pressure to avert civil war with a powerful ethnic faction.
According to a humanitarian sources in the area, shelling and shooting had been heard in the region since the early hours of Thursday, and nearly two-dozen soldiers had been treated at a clinic near the border with the Amhara region.
The source did not say which side of the conflict the injured troops were drawn from.
“At 5:20 a.m. we started to hear heavy shelling. Since then it has only stopped for an hour, but as of 2:00 p.m. you could still hear shooting, bombing and shelling,” the source said.
“So far nearly two dozens injured – all military, no civilians – were treated in the health center of Abdurafi, located near the Tigray-Amhara border.” The source continued.
Other Sources said efforts were underway behind the scenes to encourage peace talks that are being pushed by the African Union; however, authorities in Addis Ababa insist they have to eliminate a threat posed by the TPLF first.
“The Ethiopians are saying it is an internal matter and they will handle it. They are saying it (TPLF) is a rogue element within their border and this is about the rule of law,” said a diplomatic source that did not wish to be named.
Although it remains to be verified, the army claims to have repulsed the rebels and took control of strategic strongholds.
“The army not only repulsed the attacks but has managed to control important and key locations,” the Nobel-laureate leader said in an address to the nation broadcast by state media on Wednesday evening.
He did not mention any casualties or whether fighting was continuing but added that the government would “conduct more operations in the coming days”.
According to Abiy, Tigrays ruling party TPLF had chosen war and that the last red line had been crossed when they attacked the military on Wednesday morning.
Regional broadcaster Tigray TV reported that the Ethiopian army’s northern command, which had a headquarters in the attacked base, had defected to the Tigray rebels, a claim the prime minister’s office denied.
Abiy also alleged that the TPLF was threatening the truce with Eritrea.
The rebels have been “manufacturing military outfits resembling that of the Eritrean National Defense Forces, to implicate the Eritrean government in false claims of aggression against the people of Tigray”, he said.