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The spreading conflict in Tigray in Ethiopia is facing a new wave of fighting because Amhara regional officials stated that the Amhara army will launch on Saturday against the Tigray army that has entered the area and controlled the town where the UNESCO World Heritage Site is located. offensive.
“This is the time for the people of Amhara to smash the terrorist organization,” Sema Tiruneh, head of peace and security in the Amhara region, told the Amhara Media Company, a state-affiliated company in the region, on Friday.
“We are ready to reverse these moves and the offensive will begin tomorrow. Freedom is not cheap. Everyone should come forward and defend themselves.”
In addition, the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned on Friday that the Tigray forces invaded Amhara and Afar areas in recent weeks “are testing the patience of the federal government and pushing it to change its defensive sentiment, which is for unilateral humanitarianism. Adopted by the ceasefire. “.
It said the invasion had displaced approximately 300,000 people and accused Tigray’s forces of trying to destabilize Africa’s second most populous country.
The statement said that if the proposal for a peaceful resolution of the conflict is not responded, the Ethiopian government will be “forced to mobilize and deploy all the country’s defense capabilities.”
The Ethiopian government announced a unilateral ceasefire in late June. Amazing turn During the war, as its army retreated from Tigray, the revived Tigray army regained the main town and entered the regional capital of Merkel, cheering.
Clashes broke out in Tigray in November after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had a dispute with Tigray’s ruling party, which has ruled the Ethiopian government for nearly 30 years. Since then, thousands of people have been killed.
The new offensive of the Amhara regional forces will go against the orders of the federal government. “All federal and regional, civil and military agencies are ordered to comply with the ceasefire agreement,” Ethiopia said in a June statement.
Getaqiu Radar, a spokesperson for the Renaissance Tigray Force, told the Associated Press that if troops from Amhara launch a threatening offensive on Saturday, “we will extend a warm welcome.”
Getachu said that in recent weeks, Tigray forces have crossed the Amhara and Afar areas in an attempt to break the blockade imposed by the Ethiopian government on Tigray and its 6 million people. Hundreds of thousands of people are facing famine. The United Nations and the United States sent senior officials to Ethiopia this week to urge more people to receive assistance.
“We have to deal with anyone who is still shooting,” Getaqiu said. “If you need to march to Addis to silence the gunfire, we will.” But civilians should not be afraid, he said in response to the Amharic’s allegations of an attack by the Tigray forces.
Tigray forces Enter Lalibela, Amhara Town, Is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its rock-hewn church. Although a resident told the Associated Press that they had arrived peacefully, Gizachew Muluneh, spokesperson for the Amhara region, said on Friday that the “terrorist organization” that entered the town was being “detroited” by the public and the Ethiopian army.
“Several of them have surrendered now,” he added.
Earlier this year, the Ethiopian government declared the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) a “terrorist organization”, not a political party.
On Friday, UNESCO expressed concern about the spread of the conflict to Lalibela. United Nations spokesperson Farhan Hack told reporters: “We have no first-hand information about any actual damage that is being caused.”
The conflict has strained the living conditions of millions of Ethiopians, and now more people across the country worry that this will affect them.
“Tigray is in serious suffering. [The Tigray forces] There is a chance to stop a military offensive,” Tewdrose Tirfe of the American Amhara Association told the Associated Press. “On the contrary, they continue to push,” he added.
He asserted that the goal of Tigray’s forces is to “achieve a favorable outcome in negotiations by creating a humanitarian crisis and holding the civilians and the city of Amhara hostage.”
United Nations Humanitarian Affairs Chief Martin Griffith told reporters after a meeting with Abiy on Friday that the Ethiopian Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to a unilateral ceasefire a few days ago. “I have no reason to doubt this,” Griffith said.
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