(ANSA) - ADDIS ABABA, NOVEMBER 30 - The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, said today that the leaders of the regional state of Tigre are fleeing west of the Tigrinya capital Makallè after weeks of fighting, adding that federal forces are following closely and they will "attack" them soon.
"I want them to listen to me: last night, around midnight, we saw them from the operations control room in the Hagere Selam and Abiy Addi area," said Abiy, addressing the insiders and referring to the two cities located west of the Tigrinya capital, Makallè.
"We did not attack them because during their retreat they brought with them wives, children and kidnapped soldiers ... but this will not go on," he added.
Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, said today that soldiers did not kill civilians when they took control of Makalle and other cities in the Tigrinya region.
"Makalle is ours, it was built with our resources. We will not destroy it," said the Ethiopian Prime Minister.
"No people were harmed in the operation in Makalle," which was completed on Saturday.
On November 4, Abiy decided on a military offensive against the leaders of the local government party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), accused of attacking two federal army bases.
Tplf denied the allegations, but the Ethiopian prime minister's move came after months of tensions between central and local government, with Tigrinians also holding regional elections in September despite the government's ban on the pandemic.
(HANDLE).