Ethiopia’s government gave Tigrayan fighters a week to surrender and warned that if they don’t, it will use “all necessary measures” to end the conflict in the north of the country.
“With the exception of senior TPLF military and political leaders who are suspected of being involved in the illegal attacks and related crimes and against whom arrest warrants has been issued, other citizens and natives of the region are called upon to return to their villages and homes within a week and join the community,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said in a statement Friday.
Abiy ordered an incursion into Tigray on Nov. 3, after forces loyal to the region’s dissident government attacked a federal military camp. While Abiy declared victory on Nov. 28, fighting has persisted and the United Nations has warned of a growing risk of starvation in the area.
