Addis Ababa: The Ethiopian federal government has claimed that more than 100 residents were killed by rebel forces in a key town in Amhara regional state.
“The terrorist group, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has summarily executed more than 100 youth residents of Kombolcha in areas it has infiltrated,” the Ethiopian Government Communications Service said, as it called on the international community not to turn a blind eye to such atrocities.
In a statement, government spokesperson Legesse Tulu said that the atrocities perpetrated by forces loyal to the TPLF over the night particularly targeted youth in Kombolcha.
Kombolcha is a key industrial town in the Amhara region, bordering the conflict-hit Tigray.
The Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, had previously designated the TPLF as a terrorist organisation. The government had previously expressed its concern over lack of response from the international community in condemning the perpetuated atrocities of the TPLF.
Since November 4, 2020, the Ethiopian government has been undertaking military operations against the TPLF. The government had previously assigned an interim administration in Tigray after the ouster of the TPLF, which used to rule the region.
However, the government in late June announced a unilateral ceasefire in the country’s conflict-affected northernmost Tigray regional state. Forces loyal to the TPLF soon took control of much of the area in the region, including the regional capital.
The conflict has since then expanded to the Amhara and Afar regions, neighbouring Tigray.
Amid intensifying conflict over northern parts of the East African country, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had Sunday called on all able Ethiopians to participate in the ongoing fighting against the rebel group.
IANS
