NAIROBI – The Ethiopian air drive bombed weapons depots and destroyed army {hardware} within the northern Tigray area on Friday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated.
The strikes hit locations in and across the regional capital of Mekelle, destroying heavy artillery together with rocket launchers, Abiy stated in an announcement issued by state-affiliated Fana on Friday night time.
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Abiy, who received final yr’s Nobel Peace Prize, on Wednesday launched a army marketing campaign in opposition to the Tigray Individuals’s Liberation Entrance (TPLF), which dominated politics within the nation till he took workplace in 2018.
The TPLF was the dominant political force in Ethiopia’s multiethnic ruling coalition for decades, but quit after Abiy, a member of the Oromo ethnic group, took office two years ago and reorganised the coalition into a single party.
Countries in the region fear that the crisis could escalate into an all-out war under Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for ending a decades-old conflict with neighbouring Eritrea but has had to contend with outbreaks of ethnic unrest.
Tensions with the TPLF have been escalating since September when Tigray held regional elections in defiance of the federal government, which called the vote “illegal”.
Sources said efforts were under way behind the scenes to encourage talks, pushed by the African Union. But the initiative was being resisted by authorities in Addis Ababa who insist they have to eliminate a threat posed by the TPLF.
