Fighting breaks out in Ethiopia’s Tigray region as army ordered to attack defiant TPLF

ADDIS ABABA – The Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the country’s army to attack the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in respond to attacks he said are being launched by the regional government in Tigray region.

The Ethiopian premier said TPLF “took measures” and “tried to rob the Northern Command.” He also added that TPLF “opened war through Dashlah”.

The Northern Command is based  in Mekelle.

“The government tried to avoid war, but war can’t not be avoided by one side,” PM Abiy said.

“Led by a Command Post, our National Defense Forces (ENDF) is given order to discharge its responsibility to save the country. The last point of the red line is crossed; to save the country the use of force has become the last alternative.”

The Prime Minister called on the Ethiopian people “to follow the situation calmly, monitor possible localized flare ups, and to stand with the national army.”

“The last line of the red line is crossed,” Abiy said on Facebook early Wednesday. “Our Defense Forces, under the command of the Command Post, have been ordered to carry out their mission to save the country.”

Ethiopian government officials this week accused TPLF of supporting a militia group, the OLF Shane, that it said committed a massacre that killed some 32 people. The TPLF denied involvement.