Ethiopia nears war as military sent into defiant region

Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister on Wednesday ordered the military to confront the country’s Tigray regional government after he said it carried out a deadly attack on a military base overnight.

The statement by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office, and the reported attack by the well-armed Tigray People's Liberation Front, immediately raised concerns that one of Africa's most populous and powerful countries could plunge back into war. That would send a shock wave through the Horn of Africa and beyond.

Addressing the nation on TV, Abiy announced "several martyrs" in the attack in Mekele, the northern Tigray region's capital, and Dansha town.

The prime minister said the end was near for the regional force, which is based in Ethiopia's most sensitive region, neighboring Eritrea. The two countries made peace in 2018 after a long border war.

The TPLF had been the dominant part of Ethiopia's governing coalition before Abiy took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Those reforms, however, have opened space for old ethnic and other grievances. The TPLF, feeling marginalized, left the coalition last year. It remains a strong military force, observers say.

There was no immediate word from the TPLF, and all internet and phone lines were cut in the Tigray region following the announcement.

Tigray TV reported that airspace has been closed over the region.