The Ethiopian government on Thursday said the military will continue to stay in two liberated regions and not cross into the northern region of Tigray for now, reported Reuters.
During a news conference on Thursday, Legesse Tulu, a government spokesperson, said the government, however, will take necessary measures to ensure the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) rebels do not present a threat.
“As per our current assessment, the enemy has been heavily hit and is no longer capable of executing its wishes,” said Tulu.
He said the Ethiopian forces have inflicted heavy losses on TPLF and routed the terrorist group from eastern Amhara and the whole of the Afar region.
The federal government forces and the TPLF forces have been at war for more than a year. The war between the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebel groups erupted in November last year after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered the army to invade the northern region of Tigray to oust local TPLF forces.
The Ethiopian military remained in the Tigray region for the first eight months of the war but withdrew in June after incurring heavy battlefield casualties.
Tigrayan forces took control of the Ethiopian regions of Amhara and Afar in July but withdrew early this month after suffering heavy casualties. The government has denied United Nations (UN) accusations that it blocked food aid into famine-hit Tigray.
On Wednesday, the Ethiopian government said its troops had regained control of a city in southern Tigray from the TPLF forces.
The “gallant Ethiopian Defence Forces and the Amhara region security forces after sweeping the enemy force… have captured Alamata city”, the government communication service said.
It indicated that the fighting would continue.
The conflict in northern Ethiopia has killed thousands of people, displaced millions, and made more than 9 million people dependent on food aid in the troubled Tigray region.
