Ethiopia’s PM relishes victory, but Tigrayan leader says war not over

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI - Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed lauded his soldiers yesterday for victory over a rebellious northern movement, but the leader of Tigray’s forces said they were still fighting amid fears of a protracted guerrilla conflict.

The nearly month-long war has killed hundreds and probably thousands, sent refugees into Sudan, enmeshed Eritrea, affected a peacekeeping mission in Somalia, and deepened divisions between Ethiopia’s myriad ethnic groups.

Abiy’s troops took Tigray’s capital Mekelle at the weekend and declared defeat for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front ( TPLF), a guerrilla movement-turned-political party that dominated national government for nearly three decades until 2018.

“Our constitution was attacked but it didn’t take us three years, it took us three weeks,” Abiy told parliament, comparing his offensive with the American Civil War of the 1860s.

“Our army is disciplined and victorious,” he added, saying federal troops had not killed any civilians nor damaged Mekelle after launching a November 4 offensive in response to a TPLF attack on an army base.

Drones were used to watch the TPLF, but federal forces declined to fire rockets in Tigray, Abiy said. “Even though we have better capacity, we won’t use it. We are not the junta ... We conduct ourselves responsibly.”

Though the highland city of 500, 000 people fell with little resistance, the TPLF later said it had shot down a plane, retaken one town, and was resisting.

TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael, a 57-year-old former radio operator, denied reports that he had fled to South Sudan and said his forces had captured some soldiers from neighbouring Eritrea around Wukro, about 50 km north of Mekelle.

When he took office in 2018,

Abiy pledged to unite Ethiopia’s 115 million people. Abiy won a Nobel Peace Prize last year for making peace with Eritrea, whose government also regards the TPLF as a foe.

Abiy, whose parents are from the larger Oromo and Amharic groups, said that when he took office he felt like a “prisoner” and was uncomfortable flying around the nation which operates as a federation of 10 regions run by separate ethnic groups.

In total, there are more than 80 ethnicities in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation. During his rule, Tigrayans in senior military positions had been reduced to a quarter from 60 percent of the top brass, Abiy said, adding: “We must build an army that looks like the country.”