Araweelo News Network.
Addis Ababa(ANN)-Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed tells AU delegation that his government will not stop invading Tigray.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has gone by his earlier stance that his government will not sit for dialogue with the outlawed Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), whose leaders are resisting a call to surrender as war rages for a third week.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Image File Araweelo News Network.
Three former African leaders that constitute the Envoy of the African Union for Ethiopia on Friday met with Abiy. The former Presidents of Liberia Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, of Mozambique Joaquim Chissano, of South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday to try and help find a solution to the conflict in the Horn of Africa’s northernmost region of Tigray.Anadolu agency reported on Friday. Prime Minister Abiy earlier expressed his government’s stand that he would meet with the African Union envoys but will not allow for a dialogue with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), who he described as “Greedy Junta”. READ: Ethiopian PM declares assault on Mekelle, rejected the Declarations of the World, and the Tigrayans vowed not to surrender The meeting occurred as people fled the Tigrayan capital, Makelle, in fear of an imminent assault after Abiy on Thursday announced the “final phase” of the three-week offensive. On Nov. 4, Ethiopia launched a massive ‘law enforcement operation’ after the TPLF forces stormed the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF), killing soldiers and looting military assets.
READ: Ethiopia says foes surrendering, But Tigray forces report battle win
The operation reached what the government said was its third and last phase after the Ethiopian army encircled the city of Mekele, capital of Tigray region, and making advances into the city after a 72-hour ultimatum the Ethiopian leader offered for the TPLF leadership to surrender expired on Thursday. “During the discussions, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed briefed the Special Envoys on the background to Ethiopia’s rule of law operations currently underway in the Tigray region,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office said. It said: “The Prime Minister discussed at length the patience with which his government handled the provocations and destabilization agenda the TPLF orchestrated for more than two years.”
READ: Ethiopia: Abiy’s indiscriminate bombardment of Makkale University and historical sites in Tigray region
There was no immediate word from the three AU envoys: Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano and former South African President Kgalema Motlanthe. More than 41,000 Ethiopians already fled the military confrontations into neighboring Sudan, according to a UNHCR report that also said it expects the figure to rise up to 200,000. Tigray leaders, meanwhile, have said in the past that they will not surrender and will defend their country and their dignity. The fighting has led to massacres and displacement, with the situation worsening for three weeks during the Abiy invasion of Tigray, with no apparent success for Ethiopian federal government forces in the fighting, except in several areas. Captured, with heavy damage to the 21st Division and destroyed by Tigray as the world media reported two days ago.
