Ethiopian PM expects swift end to conflict in Tigray

Bloomberg

Ethiopia’s prime minister said he expects conflict in the north of the country to end quickly,
dismissing concerns that the fighting may escalate into a full-blown civil war.
Federal soldiers continued to clash on Monday with fighters loyal to the Tigray region’s ruling party, six days after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered forces to respond to an alleged attack on a federal army camp. The conflict has stoked fears of a broader war at a time when the government is struggling to end ethnic violence shaking Africa’s second-most populous country.
“Concerns that Ethiopia will descend into chaos are unfounded,” Abiy said in a statement on Twitter.
“Our rule-of-law enforcement operation, as a sovereign state with the capacity to manage its own internal affairs, will wrap up soon by ending the prevailing impunity.”
The yield on Ethiopia’s $1 billion of 2024 Eurobonds climbed for a fourth day on Monday, bringing its increase since November 3 to 112 basis points — the highest level since June 15, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
So far, the bulk of the fighting has been on the western end of the Tigray-Amhara regional border, where Abiy said the army wrapped up its first phase of operations.
Government jets bombed sites near the Tigrayan capital of Mekelle, according to two people who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorised to speak to the media.
There’s been no official word on the death toll, though diplomats said last week there have been dozens of casualties.
Federal troops and regional special forces are now amassing in south-eastern Tigray and the neighbouring Afar region, foreign diplomats said on Monday on the condition of anonymity in order to not disclose military details. That area could become the next major flashpoint in the conflict, they said.
State Minister of Foreign Affairs Redwan Hussein didn’t respond to a request for comment sent by mobile phone.
Relations between Tigray and Abiy’s government have been strained since the premier took office in 2018 and sidelined the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, once the pre-eminent power broker in Ethiopia.
Last month, the federal parliament ordered the Treasury to halt direct budgetary support to the Tigrayan administration for defying an order to postpone regional elections.
The conflict has led to shortages of fuel and food in Tigray, said Sajjad Mohammad, the head of the United Nations humanitarian office in Ethiopia.