In brief:
– On November 24, clashes between ENDF and TPLF were reported near the Adi- Harush Refugee Camp
– 40,000 Ethiopian refugees fled to Sudan escaping the fighting in the Tigray region, according to the UN
– On November 24, TPLF forces destroyed an armored vehicle of the Ethiopian Army near Mekele, according to Al-Arabiya
– On November 23, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael rejected Abiy Ahmed’s ultimatum. The TPLF is set to continue the war.
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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s troops launched an offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) local government on November 4th and currently claim they are closing in on Mekelle in a final push to win the conflict. Mekelle is the capital of the Tigray region.
But the battle-hardened TPLF say their troops are keeping the federal army at bay and scoring some big victories.
So far, the conflict has spread to Eritrea, where the TPLF has fired rockets, and also affected Somalia where Ethiopia has disarmed several hundred Tigrayans in a peacekeeping force fighting al Qaeda-linked militants.
Abiy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year for ending a standoff with Eritrea, has said he will not negotiate with the TPLF though he does plan to receive AU envoys.
He has given Tigrayan forces until November 25th to surrender or face an assault on the highland city of Mekelle, home to about half a million people.
TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael has disputed the government version that Mekelle is encircled at a roughly 50km distance and claimed that the ultimatum was a cover for government forces to regroup after defeats.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will hold its first meeting on the Ethiopian Tigray region conflict, upon a request from Tunisia, South Africa, and “Saint Vincent and the Grenadines”.
The meeting comes after the leader of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Debretsion Gebremichael, said that his people are “ready to die” defending their homeland, rejecting Ethiopian Prime Minister (PM) Abiy Ahmed’s surrender ultimatum period.
TIGRAY’S FORCES REJECT ULTIMATUM, CLAIM THEY DESTROYED GOVERNMENT FORCES MECHANIZED DIVISION
