External Forces Are Supporting Terrorist TPLF: State Minister

November 15/2021 (ENA) State Minister of Finance Dr. Eyob said there is evidence that outside forces are supporting the terrorist TPLF.

In an exclusive interview with DD India Eyob said TPLF has caused a lot of pain on Ethiopians at large over three decades.

The group previously tried to incite conflicts across the country to create difference among nations and engaged into opted aggression with the objective to disintegrate Ethiopia.

They started war by attacking the Northern Command of the Ethiopian National Defense Force based in Tigray region for two decades.

After it instigated the conflict, the amount of damage that has been inflicted on the people of Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions and the general public is very painful, he added.

This was because the group didn’t see the opportunity for peaceful co-existence of nations across the country.

It is very important to understand the genesis of this conflict; Eyob said adding that three years ago when PM Abiy came into power, he introduced sweeping reforms across political, social and economic spheres to create a stronger united Ethiopia.

But, the TPLF group which has ruled the country for almost three decades and controlled the economic and political life of the country didn’t accept this reform and made all possible efforts to disrupt the reform process, Eyob said.

Because of the nature of the conflict, the entire Ethiopian public is mobilized and this threat is being neutralized and efforts are underway to bring back Ethiopia to the normal process of peace, development and democracy.

Regarding to humanitarian support to victim communities, Dr. Eyob said that "facilitating humanitarian access is our responsibility despite some challenges."

The propaganda of the TPLF that the government was purposely using famine as weapon war and blockade of humanitarian access was baseless, he said

The fake news that the capital is under siege is part of the psychological warfare that the TPLF group is undertaking.

He expressed his view that "this is the proxy war. There is evidence that forces outside are supporting TPLF, providing satellite and armament  supports which is very unfortunate."

He explained that stability of Ethiopia is very important for East African region. Ethiopia is icon of stability. If Ethiopia is affected the rest of the region will be affected.       

“I want to assure them (external forces) that Ethiopia will prevail at the end. Any proxy war in Ethiopia has never succeeded and never succeeds now,”  Dr. Eyob underlined.

Regarding bilateral ties between India and Ethiopia, he said the two countries have enjoyed very strong and solid relationship in the economic sphere.

In the political sphere, the principled stand that India has taken is not just something that cheers the Ethiopian public. I think it gave hopes for the entire African, because the all notion that the sovereignty of countries is on attack by some western forces was a serious concern by many Ethiopians and Africans.”

He thanked the government and people of India for supporting Ethiopia at this critical time.

Africans are capable of resolving their problems and the government has seriously appreciated the effort of AU.

He calls to the U.S that punitive measures and sanctions doesn’t work in this kind of situation. What works is discussion and understanding the reality on the ground.