The Prime Minister of Ethiopia has promised victory in the first line in a video: State Media | Conflict News

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has promised victory, saying it was his first message after state-run media went to the front line this week to lead government troops in a year-long war against forces in the northern Tigray region.

State media reported on Wednesday that Abiy had arrived at the front to carry out a counterattack against Tigris forces, and gave him the usual duties of his replacement.

In a video shown on Friday, the winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize is seen walking with the military dressed in military fatigue.

“We will not give up until the enemy is buried,” Abiy said in a recorded recording, adding that the morale of the army was high. “What we want to see is an Ethiopian based on our sacrifices, be it Ethiopian or Ethiopian,” he added.

He added that the military had gained control of Kassagata and intended to reclaim the Chifra district and Burka village in the Afar region of Tigray.

“The enemy doesn’t have the ability to compete with us, we will win,” he said.

We want to be Ethiopian or Ethiopian. pic.twitter.com/4OVCiXk5t2

– Abiy Ahmed Ali ???????? (@AbiyAhmedAli) November 26, 2021

The images were released after the media issued a new order restricting reporting on the war, banning the sharing of unofficial information about “military-related movements, battlefield outcomes and situations”.

‘No end in sight’

After months of tension, Abiy sent troops in November 2020 to the Tigraira regional government party to oust the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF dominated for almost three decades in the federal government until Abiy took office in 2018.

The prime minister promised a swift victory and government forces seized the capital of Tigray, Mekelle, in late November. By June, however, Tigris forces had recaptured most of the region and pushed it into the neighboring Amhara and Afar regions.

Recently, Tigris forces reported major land gains, they said this week that they had taken a town 220 km (135 miles) from the capital Addis Ababa. Much of northern Ethiopia is in the shadow of communications and access to journalists is severely restricted, making it difficult to verify battlefield claims.

However, the growing international alarm has escalated, with foreign countries urging citizens to step aside because mediation attempts by the United Nations and the US have so far yielded no results.

“In terms of negotiations or a ceasefire, there seems to be a growing distance between the two sides,” Ethiopian independent journalist Samuel Getachew told Al Jazeera in Addis Ababa.

“Because the conflict is ongoing and affects a lot of people, there doesn’t seem to be an end. There is a decision on both sides to win by 100 percent. ”

The crisis of hunger

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, forced the evacuation of more than two million people and caused a huge humanitarian toll. On Friday, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said the number of people in need of food aid in the north of the country had risen to more than nine million.

Hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine while aid workers are struggling to provide urgent supplies to the desperate populations of Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

The WFP said the situation had deteriorated significantly in recent months, with 9.4 million people facing hunger “as a direct result of the ongoing conflict,” compared to about seven million in September.

“The Amhara region – the front line of the Ethiopian conflict – has had the biggest jump in numbers with 3.7 million people now in need of humanitarian aid,” the WFP said.

“Among the people in need in northern Ethiopia, more than 80 percent (7.8 million) of them are behind the battle lines.”

This week, aid workers have been able to distribute food in the villages of Amhara Dessie and Kombolcha since they were caught by the TPLF almost a month ago, for the first time, WFP said, adding that last week it only gave them access to its warehouses. .

The fighting has damaged more than 500 health facilities in Amhara, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said on Thursday night.

As the war dragged on, the government increased its use of air power against Tigris forces, one of the areas with a military advantage.

“Another drone attack on #Mekelle’s civilian neighborhood,” TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda tweeted on Friday. “The desperate movements of a desperate regime are on the brink.”

On Friday, the TPLF and a hospital official reported two airstrikes in the capital Mekelle, Tigray.

Dr. Hayelom Kebede, research director at Ayder Referral Hospital in Mekell, told AFP news agency that two bombings occurred at 09:00 and 12:30 (06:00 and 09:30 GMT), the first of which destroyed two homes.

“I’m still waiting for the report of the injured,” he said.

Sources told AFP that the first attack took place near the home of a rebel commander and hit a hill with an anti-aircraft machine gun.

Abiy’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said she had “no information” about the drone attacks in Mekell.