PM Abiy Ordered ENDF to Start Military Offensive against Defiant TPLF

Addis Ababa, November 04/2020(ENA) Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has ordered the Ethiopian National Defense Forces (ENDF) to take offensive action against the defiant Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

According to a statement issued by Office of the Prime Minister, on November 4, 2020, the defiant TPLF has attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Forces northern command based in Mekelle, Tigray Region.

The defiant TPLF attempted to rob artillery and military equipment from the northern command post that has been stationed in the Tigray Region for more than two decades in services and protection of the people of Tigray from any threats.

While the Federal Government has used all means to thwart a military engagement against TPLF, a war however cannot be avoided only on the goodwill and decision by one side.

The statement underlined that “The last red-line has been crossed with the attacks and the Federal Government is therefore forced into a military confrontation.”

“The Ethiopian National Defense Forces, under the direction of a Command post have been ordered to carry out their mission to save the country and region from spiraling into instability,” the statement noted.

It is to be recalled that in the past few weeks the TPLF has been arming and organizing irregular militias outside of the constitutional mandated structure, it was indicated.

The attack on the Northern Command has been premised on TPLF viewing the Ethiopian National Defense Forces as a foreign army rather than an army that has been protecting the people of Tigray for more than twenty years. Resultantly, TPLF has chosen to wage war in Dalshah.

Over the past months of continued provocation and incitement for the violence of TPLF, the federal government has maintained a policy of extreme patience and caution in order to avoid any harm that such provocations would cause the people of Tigray.

In addition to federal government provocations, the TPLF through Almeda Plc- a textiles manufacturing company based in the region have been manufacturing military outfits resembling that of the Eritrean National Defense Forces, to implicate the Eritrean government in the false claims of aggression against the people of Tigray.

Prime Minister calls up on the Ethiopian to remain calm, to be vigilant in the face of possible harassment, and stand by the national defense forces in the critical issue.