Ethiopia : PM Abiy To Lead Troops At Battlefront

Despite efforts by Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union special envoy and Jeffrey Feltman, the US envoy for the Horn of Africa to seek a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, has vowed to lead his country’s troops “from the battlefront”. “Starting tomorrow, I will mobilize to the front to lead the defense forces,” Abiy, said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday, November 22, 2020. The latest decision by the PM to take the bull by the horn in a devastating year-long war with rebel groups, comes on the heels of an announcement by the rebel groups, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), that they have continued to press towards Addis Ababa, claiming control of the town of Shewa Robit, just 220km northeast of the capital by road.
The Guardian reports that, since the start of the civil war between Ethiopian federal forces and fighters from the country’s northern Tigray region, tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war, a blockade of the Tigray by government forces has triggered a humanitarian crisis and prevented the delivery of essential medical supplies. The United Nation, African Union, US and other major powers have warned that Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous country might soon be in chaos that can destabilize the whole Horn of Africa and have pull out non-essential diplomatic staff, while urging their citizens to leave Ethiopia.
Mr Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nob...