A member of Tigray police is pictured at a checkpoint in the outskirts of Mekele, Ethiopia. Photo: AFP
Ethiopia at ‘War’ With Tigray Ruling Party: Military
November 5, 2020
Ethiopia’s military said Thursday it was at “war” with the ruling party of the country’s northern Tigray region, as fighting continued for a second day and troops reportedly amassed at the region’s borders.
Heated rhetoric from both sides and fresh violence in western Tigray suggested Africa’s second most populous country was heading for an extended conflict in a region long at odds with Addis Ababa and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“Our country has entered into a war it didn’t anticipate. This war is shameful, it is senseless,” Berhanu Jula, the deputy army chief, told a press conference in Addis Ababa.
“We’re working to ensure the war won’t come to the center of the country. It will end there” in Tigray, Berhanu said.
Abiy announced Wednesday that he had ordered military operations in Tigray in response to an “attack” by