PM Says Law Enforcement Operation Conducted Without Collateral Damage

Addis Ababa, November 30/2020 (ENA) The three-week law enforcement operation in Tigray Region was carried out without causing damage to civilians, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed revealed.

The premier said the Ethiopian National Defense Force has taken great caution to avoid  casualties.

“We have hit 99 percent of the targets, but there was no collateral damage at all,” he said, adding that responsibility was taken in every target as this was not a militia game.

The National Defense Force has double the missiles and rockets the junta has stolen from the army, Abiy told the House of People's Representatives, adding that it did not, however, drop a single bomb in places where civilians lived and every target was attacked after it was carefully surveyed and identified.

The army carefully and wisely used drones and other weapons to monitor the activities of the junta and attack; but the extremists undermined the capability of the  defense force.  

Even if the army had sufficient weaponry, they did not use them irresponsibly like the junta,  the premier stressed.

“I told them (junta) months ago that we do not want to fight with militias.When we think of war, it's a modern warfare. So we did not want the war. It was imposed on us.”

Commending the national defense force, Abiy noted that no soldier in any country is better qualified than this force because it is a disciplined and heroic army.

According to him, the junta has left Mekele with their families and members of the national army they abducted. The army did not attack them so as not to cause collateral damage on civilian. But it is monitoring every movement of the junta.