Ethiopia’s prime minister accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the governing party in the Tigray region, of attempting to provoke a war by orchestrating an attack on a major Ethiopian Army base in the early hours of Wednesday.
Ethiopian Army has been ordered to “carry out their mission to save the country and the region from spiraling into instability”, according to the first minister Abiy.
In his statement published on Twitter, he did not say what specific actions the army had been ordered to take but stressed that TPLF has crossed the red line. “Resultantly, TPLF has chosen to wage war in Dalshah,” the PM’s administration said, referring to the Northern Command (of ENDF) base in Tigray.
The attack on the Northern Command (of ENDF) has been premised on TPLF viewing the Ethiopian National Defence Forces as a foreign army rather than an army that has been protecting the people of Tigray for more than twenty years.
The UN Secretary-General also condemned acts of violence and urged both sides to calm their ambitions to avoid the death of people.
Ethiopian PM accused the raiders of trying to seize artillery and other military equipment in the attack on the Northern Command, which is stationed in Tigray. Hours later, a spokeswoman for the prime minister said military operations were underway.
“The last red line has been crossed with this morning’s attacks, and the federal government is therefore forced into a military confrontation,” PM Abiy said in his statement.
As EthipiaOnline reports, it was not immediately possible to verify that the raid described by Mr Abiy had indeed taken place. His statement, which said the attack had occurred that morning, was released by 4 am, which would make it a remarkably quick response.
