Nobel Committee issues rare statement as Ethiopian PM launches 'final and crucial' military operation in Tigray
The committee that awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said Tuesday it was deeply concerned about the conflict in Tigray region and called on all parties to end violence.
Hundreds have died, thousands have fled to Sudan, and there have been accusations of atrocities since Mr Abiy launched a military offensive two weeks ago against the local rulers of Tigray for defying his authority.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee follows the developments in Ethiopia closely, and is deeply concerned," said a statement from the committee, which rarely expresses views about the actions of past Nobel laureates.
Mr Abiy took the award in 2019 for making peace with Eritrea after a devastating 1998-2000 war and then lengthy standoff on the border.
On Tuesday, Mr Abiy declared operations were entering a “final” phase, and his government confirmed fresh air strikes near the Tigray capital, Mekele.
The United Nations refugee agency said around 27,000 Ethiopians have fled across the border into Sudan - a figure now rising by around 4,000 people each day.
“A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding,” spokesman Babar Baloch told a virtual press briefing from Geneva.
“Refugees fleeing the fighting continue to arrive exhausted from the long trek to safety, with few belongings.”
Those arriving in Sudan recounted terrifying scenes of artillery barrages and massacres.
“I saw bodies dismembered by the explosions,” said Ganet Gazerdier, 75, whose home was destroyed in the town of Humera, and finds herself at a refugee camp in eastern Sudan.
“Other bodies were rotting, lying on the road, murdered with a knife”, she added.
On Friday Mr Abiy declared the TPLF was “in the final throes of death” and gave troops in the region three days to “rise up” and side with the national army.
In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, he said their time was up.
“The three-day deadline for the Tigray regional special forces and militia to hand themselves over to national defence forces instead of being a tool for the greedy junta has expired. Those Tigray special forces and militia who used the three-day deadline are appreciated,” he said.
A communications blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to assess how the fighting is going or verify a death toll that could be in the hundreds.
Federal forces claim to control Tigray's western zone, where fighting has been heavy, and over the weekend said they had seized the town of Alamata, 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of the regional capital, Mekele.
But Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael told AFP Tuesday that “the government and people of Tigray” would hold their ground.
“This campaign cannot be finished. As long as the army of the invaders is in our land, the fight will continue. They cannot keep us silent by military force,” he said.
Mr Abiy has resisted calls by world leaders to cease hostilities and accept mediation.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics for three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018, and a bitter feud has grown as they have been sidelined from politics, becoming ever more defiant towards the central government.
