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Ethiopia says ‘limited’ aims to Tigray operation

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GONDAR: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Friday that military operations launched in the northern region of Tigray had limited objectives, as calls rise for the country to step back from what could be a devastating war.


A long-running feud erupted into armed conflict this week between Addis Ababa and Tigray, whose leaders effectively ruled the country for three decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power.


UN chief Antonio Guterres called for the immediate de-escalation of tensions amid reports of heavy shelling and troop movements, while observers warned that an all-out war between the two powerful armies could be long and bloody.


Abiy, the winner of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, announced on Wednesday he had ordered military operations in Tigray in response to an “attack” on a military camp by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).


The TPLF denies the attack occurred and accuses Abiy of concocting the story to justify deploying the military against it.


Abiy wrote on Twitter Friday that the military operations “have clear, limited and achievable objectives — to restore the rule of law and the constitutional order, and to safeguard the rights of Ethiopians to lead a peaceful life wherever they are in the country”.


His comments come after the military said on Wednesday the country has “entered into a war it didn’t anticipate” with the TPLF.


“This war is shameful, it is senseless,” Ethiopia’s deputy army chief Berhanu Jula said on Thursday.


Abiy appeared to be seeking to play down the bellicose rhetoric, and responded to growing international calls for dialogue.


He said the government “patiently tried for several months to resolve differences with TPLF leadership peacefully; we tried mediation, reconciliation, dialogue”.


“All failed (because) of TPLF criminal hubris and intransigence. In the last straw TPLF attacked the Northern Command based in Tigray.”


In a statement on Twitter, Guterres called for “an immediate de-escalation of tensions and a peaceful resolution to the dispute”.


“I’m deeply alarmed over the situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. The stability of Ethiopia is important for the entire Horn of Africa region,” he wrote. — AFP


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