The Ethiopian government has launched a “staggering” ground offensive against rebel Tigrayan forces, according to a spokesman for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, reigniting a devastating civil war that international humanitarian groups say imperils hundreds of thousands.
TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said in an interview that there was active fighting Monday on at least three fronts in the Amhara region against the troops of the Ethiopian army and Amhara regional militias, involving a combination of soldiers, drones, tanks and airstrikes.
The fighting marked an escalation in Ethiopia’s nearly year-long civil war as the international community has ratcheted up calls for an end to the violence. Months earlier, the Tigrayan rebels had pushed the government forces out of their province and taken up positions in the neighboring Amhara region.
Billene Seyoum, a spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, did not directly respond to questions about the offensive but said the government “has a responsibility to protect its citizens in all parts of the country from any acts of terrorism.”
