Ethiopia Risks Descent Into Civil War as Tensions Flare
Ethiopia’s leader ordered the military to respond to an alleged attack on an army camp in the restive Tigray region, escalating a standoff between the federal and state governments.
Military operations began in Tigray overnight and a six-month state of emergency has been declared in the northern region, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum said by phone on Wednesday. The intervention came after Abiy on Tuesday accused the region’s ruling Tigray People’s Liberation Front of orchestrating the raid on the camp.
The impasse comes as the central government struggles to end ethnic violence shaking Africa’s second-most populous country. It risks deteriorating into a full-blown conflict that could draw in neighboring states including Eritrea, whose president has long been at odds with Tigrayan leaders.
The Tigray region is already heavily militarized because of its proximity to Eritrea, which fought a war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000. The Northern Command that’s situated in Tigray comprises more than half of the armed forces’ total personnel and mechanized divisions, according to the International Crisis Group.
https://www.yahoo.com/now/ethiopia-risks-descent-civil-war-082642965.html
