Ethiopian PM urges troops to ‘destroy enemy’

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said his foes had been defeated and promised to recapture territory in the region of Amhara from rebellious Tigrayan forces after praising military victories against the Tigrayans in the region of Afar.

“The East Command secured an unimaginable victory in just one day of planning and a day and half long fighting,” he said.

“Now we will repeat that victory in this front.”

Abiy, whose army has been battling forces from the northern region of Tigray for more than a year, said he was headed to the frontline last week to supervise operations.

State media reported over the weekend that the army recaptured the town of Chifra in Afar region and other areas, after Abiy arrived.

“Tigrayan youth are falling like leaves. They should know that they have been defeated and surrender starting from today,” Abiy, a Nobel Peace laureate, said in the footage.

The Tigrayan forces have threatened to push into the capital Addis Ababa or to try to cut a corridor linking landlocked Ethiopia with the region’s largest port.

National politics
The TPLF dominated national politics until Abiy took power in 2018. Since the conflict erupted a year ago, the war in northern Ethiopia has killed thousands and displaced millions in Africa’s second most populous nation.

Tigrayan forces were initially beaten back, but recaptured most of the region in July and pushed into neighbouring Amhara and Afar, displacing hundreds of thousands more people.

Reuters/Olajumoke Adeleke