Ethiopia's PM launches military attack on Tigray's government as regional crisis worsens

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, on November 4, 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, Associated Press reported. A statement released by the PM‘s office accused “well-armed” Tigray People’s Liberation Front(TPLF) of attack at the country’s forces. With Ahmed's declaration that “the last red line has been crossed,” experts now fear that a war in the region is imminent.

In a televised address to the nation on November 4, Abiy announced that “several martyrs” in the attack in Mekele, the northern Tigray region’s capital, and Dansha town. The Nobel Prize-winning leader also added that “the end is near” for the regional force, which are based in neighbouring state of  Eritrea.

Regional Crisis in Ethiopia 

In September this year,  Tigray region had conducted its owl elections despite orders from the federal government to postpone all kinds of polls de to coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to BBC, Tigray region’s President has said that the federal government was not going to punish them for holding polls and launch a full-fledged attack on the region. Meanwhile, the National Electoral board of the nation has declared it illegal.

Read: Ethiopia Nears War As Military Sent Into Defiant Region

Read: Ethiopia Officials: Unknown Number 'massacred' In Oromia Terror Ac

Last week, Ethiopia condemned US President Donald Trump’s comments that the country could “blow up” the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) that straddles the Blue Nile, as it accused the United States President of ‘inciting war’. Trump was speaking with respect to the national security of the two countries downstream the reservoir, Egypt, and Sudan, while he was brokering the normalizing of Sudan’s ties with Israel on Friday. "They will end up blowing up the dam," Trump said, referring to Ethiopia, adding, “I said it and I say it loud and clear, they'll blow up that dam. And they have to do something,” as he addressed the US press.

Read: Ethiopia Slams Trump's Dam Remark, Says 'will Not Tolerate Aggression'; Summons Envoy

Read: Ethiopia Blasts Trump Remark That Egypt Will 'blow Up' Dam

Image: AP