Tigray forces given 72 hours to surrender
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave Tigrayan regional forces 72 hours to surrender before the military begins an offensive on the regional capital of Mekelle. “We urge you to surrender peacefully within 72 hours, recognising that you are at the point of no return,” Abiy said in a message posted on Twitter yesterday.
Ethiopia’s military yesterday warned of an all-out assault on Mekele, capital of the Tigray region, telling civilians to flee while they still can.
“The next decisive battle is to surround Mekele with tanks,” Dejene Tsegaye, a military spokesman, told state broadcasters yesterday, threatening a siege of the city.
He added a warning for Mekele’s half a million residents: “Save yourself.
A directive has been communicated for you to dissociate yourself from this junta, after that there will be no mercy.”
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed — last year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner — launched a military campaign against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) on November 4, accusing it of attacking two federal military camps in the region, and of defying his government and seeking to destabilise it.
A communications blackout in the region has made claims from both sides difficult to verify but hundreds of people are reported to have been killed while tens of thousands have fled the fighting into neighbouring Sudan.
Abiy’s government has claimed the capture of a string of towns in recent days, including the ancient city of Aksum and the town of Edega Hamus, 100 kilometres north of Mekele.
“Defence forces have controlled Edaga Hamus city, which is on the road from Adigrat to Mekele,” the Ethiopia State of Emergency Fact Check, a government agency, said yesterday.
“The defence forces are currently marching on the campaign’s last goal, Mekele city.”