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UN warns of the spread of civil war in Ethiopia

2021-11-08T22:55:28.571Z


Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed fails to pacify his country. To the United Nations it seems "only too real" that the conflict with the rebels could spread to the whole of Ethiopia.


Enlarge image

An abandoned tank in southern Tigray

Photo: EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP

Because the violence in northern Ethiopia continues to increase, the United Nations is warning of a spreading civil war in the east African country.

"That Ethiopia could sink into an expanding civil war is only too real," said the UN commissioner for political affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.

The conflict in the northern region of Tigray has assumed catastrophic proportions.

"The fighting has brought great uncertainty over the past few days to the future of the country and its people, as well as the stability of the region in the Horn of Africa," said DiCarlo.

Only last week the UN published a report that serious human rights violations such as torture and sexual violence had already been committed in the conflict - by all actors involved.

The conflict between the Ethiopian government and rebels of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has been going on for about a year.

With almost 115 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the country with the second largest population in Africa.

The multi-ethnic state, which has long been considered an anchor of stability in the region, threatens to disintegrate as a result of the fighting, and the central government has been weakened.

Abiy Ahmed is under international pressure

Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018 with a promise to reform Ethiopia.

He overthrew the TPLF, which had dominated the country for 25 years.

In autumn 2020, the TPLF conducted elections in its stronghold of Tigray on its own initiative and attacked a military base shortly afterwards.

The head of government started a brutal military offensive with the help of neighboring Eritrea.

But many high-ranking army officers defected to the TPLF, which allowed the rebels to quickly achieve great success.

Since the beginning of August, the conflict from Tigray has spread to the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.

Together with rebels from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the TPLF is advancing on the capital Addis Ababa.

Last week, the authorities called on the city's residents to register their weapons with the police and to defend Addis Ababa against the rebels.

A state of emergency has been declared across the country.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has come under strong international criticism.

He is accused of war crimes and a de facto blockade of Tigray.

The conflict has plunged the north of the country into a serious humanitarian crisis.

atb / dpa / Reuters

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-11-08

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