Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday said he is ready to lead the army from the battlefront from Tuesday, reported France 24.
“Starting tomorrow, I will mobilize to the front to lead the defense forces,” Ahmed said in a statement posted on Twitter. “Those who want to be among the Ethiopian children who will be hailed by history, rise up for your country today. Let’s meet at the battlefront.”
The statement came as the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebel group continued to head towards Addis Ababa.
The executive committee of the ruling Prosperity Party met on Monday to discuss the war, which has been continuing since last year.
After the meeting, the Ethiopian Defence Minister Abraham Belay told reporters that the army would now follow a different action without providing details.
“We can’t continue like this, that means there will be change,” Belay said. “What happened and is happening to our people, the abuses being meted out by this destructive, terrorist, robber group, can’t continue.”
Abiy had ordered Ethiopian troops to attack the northernmost Tigray region to topple the regional ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in November 2020. He said the move was in response to attacks by the Tigrayan rebel forces on Ethiopian army camps.
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning Ethiopian prime minister promised a swift victory, but, the TPLF came out strong and captured most of Tigray by late June including its capital Mekele. The rebel group has also pushed into the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.
The TPLF has also reportedly formed an alliance with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which is active in the Oromia region, and other insurgent groups that are active in the country.
Thousands of Ethiopians have lost their lives in the war so far and more than two million have been forced to flee their homes. According to the United Nations, hundreds of thousands are forced to live in famine-like conditions.
In the past few weeks, the federal army has appealed to former army personnel to rejoin and fight for their country. The government has also appealed to civilians to register their weapons and prepare to defend their neighborhoods.
