Skip to main content
No description available

Ethiopia warns Tigray residents that 'anything can happen'

Read full article: Ethiopia warns Tigray residents that 'anything can happen'

NAIROBI – Ethiopia’s government is again warning residents of the besieged capital of the embattled Tigray region as the clock ticks on a 72-hour ultimatum before a military assault, saying ā€œanything can happen.ā€Senior official Redwan Hussein told reporters Monday that the Tigray regional leaders are ā€œhiding out in a densely populated city; the slightest strike would end up losing lives.ā€Human rights groups and others were alarmed over the weekend when Ethiopia’s military warned civilians in the Tigray capital, Mekele, that there would be ā€œno mercyā€ if they don’t ā€œsave themselvesā€ before the offensive to flush out defiant regional leaders. Amnesty International warns that deliberately attacking civilians and civilian objects ā€œis prohibited under international humanitarian law and constitutes war crimes.ā€Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister, issued a 72-hour ultimatum Sunday for the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, to surrender. Redwan said that Mekele, a city of around 500,000 people, is now encircled at a distance of about 50 kilometers (30 miles), and with rougher terrain left behind ā€œwhat remains is the plain land, easier for tanks.ā€He added, ā€œby providing a brute fact, it is letting people to understand the reality and make the right choice.ā€ Ethiopia’s government is urging Mekele residents to separate themselves from the TPLF leaders in time.