Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is more determined than ever to obliterate the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the country’s former ruling party that Addis Ababa now considers a terrorist group.
The Ethiopian leader made the declaration on Sunday indirectly affirming the end of the unilateral ceasefire he imposed two weeks ago, which was supposed to help humanitarian access in the territory now controlled by TPLF fighters. Using ominous terms to describe the group, such as “weeds,” “cancer,” and “disease.”
“The enemy we are facing is Ethiopia’s cancer,” Abiy said in a tweet referring to TPLF, led by Debretsion Gebremichael, whom Addis Ababa has proscribed alongside other senior Tigrayan leaders.
He also stated that the TPLF is the first and only group in Ethiopian history to attempt to dissolve the country. “Abiy is saying Ethiopian joint forces will launch a large offensive against TPLF” Solomon Ketema, a political analyst said on Sunday.
The conflict will no longer be contained inside the region if a massive offensive is launched as many have predicted. The planned move is extremely risky, and it might mark the beginning of the country’s dissolution.
Addis Ababa accused the TPLF of using child soldiers when the truce broke down, which the group refuted in a long statement released on Sunday morning. Addis Ababa, on the other hand, is currently recruiting militia from around the country to join the Amhara warriors who have traditionally backed Ethiopia’s National Defense Forces.
To confront the TPLF and its allied militia, forces from Afar, Oromia, Somalia, and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s (SNNP) area were all dispatched to Tigray. Already, the unrest in the Tigray region has spread to neighboring communities and experts are frantically warning that Ethiopia could become like Yugoslavia, referring to the former European country’s fragmentation into independent entities.
In the proclaimed second phase of the assault on Tigray, regional states are also moving forces to the Amhara region to combat the TPLF. Sidama, Oromia, SNNP, and Afar have all dispatched troops to the front lines. Other regions, like Gambia and Somalia, have also declared that regional forces will be deployed.
According to Metta-Alem Sinishaw, a political expert on Ethiopia and East Africa, the resurgence of violence represents the nationalization and integration of Ethiopia’s elite strife.
The conflict is no longer between the TPLF and Abiy, nor between the TPLF and the Amhara region. The active participation of several regional armies has unexpectedly turned the fight against the TPLF into a nationwide front. This is predicted to have far-reaching political consequences beyond the military campaign.
As Ethiopia sends regional forces to the front lines, the TPLF has launched cross-regional raids to thwart the arrival of the troops. Actions against pro-government troops were carried out in the neighboring Afar area on Sunday, according to a TPLF official, forming a new front in the eight-month conflict.
The fairly restricted action targeted special forces and militia fighters from Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, who were gathering near the Tigray-Afar border, according to rebel spokesman Getachew Reda.