Civil war feared as troops are sent to defiant region
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prizewinning prime minister on Wednesday ordered the military to confront the country’s Tigray regional government after he accused it of a deadly attack on a military base, declaring, “The last red line has been crossed” after months of alleged provocations.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s move against the wellarmed Tigray People’s Liberation Front raised concerns that one of Africa’s most populous and powerful countries could plunge into civil war. That would send a shock wave through one of the world’s most turbulent regions, the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia’s neighbors include Somalia and Sudan, and the prospect of spreading instability sent a chill down observers’ spines.
Signaling the gravity of the threat, the United States in the midst of its election drama issued a statement urging “an immediate deescalation.”
Abiy in a televised address announced “several martyrs” in the overnight attack in Mekele, the northern Tigray region’s capital, and Dansha town. He said, “The end is near” for the regional force, based in Ethiopia’s most sensitive region, neighboring Eritrea. The two countries made peace in 2018 after a long border war.
Fighting continued Wednesday afternoon, and the TPLF claimed it had captured and killed Ethiopian army officers, a government statement said hours later.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopia’s governing coalition before Abiy took office in 2018 and announced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel last year. Those reforms, however, opened space for ethnic and other grievances. The TPLF, feeling marginalized by the shifts in power, left the coalition last year. Its strong military force has been reinforced in recent months, but analysts said it is little match for the federal government.
Ethiopia declared a sixmonth state of emergency in Tigray on Wednesday, saying “illegal and violent activities” are “threatening the country’s sovereignty.”
Tigray TV accused the federal government of deploying troops to “cow the people of Tigray into submission by force,” and said the Tigray government was acting “to avert more destructive measures.” It banned movement by Ethiopia’s military there and warned of “proportional measures” for damage to people or property.
Observers have worried for months about the growing tensions and their implications for the Horn of Africa, where Abiy has cast himself as a peacemaker.