credit: pmo.gov.et/pm)    H.E. Abiy Ahmed Ali , Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The government of Ethiopia on Saturday declared victory in its latest military operation in the capital of the defiant Tigray region.  Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had announced Thursday the Horn-of-Africa nations’ National  Defense forces had been directed “to conclude its third and final phase of our rule of law operations.” The announcement came after Ethiopia’s military refused to engage in dialogue with the leaders of the rebellious Tigray region during a meeting with three African Union special envoys.  In a tweet on Twitter PM Ahmed declared the operation a success with the military taking “full control” of  Mekelle,  the capital of the Tigray region  

I am pleased to share that we have completed and ceased the military operations in the #Tigray region.

Our focus now will be on rebuilding the region and providing humanitarian assistance while Federal Police apprehend the TPLF clique. #EthiopiaPrevails https://t.co/WrM2BAPCD6

— Abiy Ahmed Ali 🇪🇹 (@AbiyAhmedAli) November 28, 2020

PM Ahmed said Ethiopia now has ahead of it   “the critical  task of rebuilding what has been destroyed; repairing what is damaged; returning those who have fled,  with utmost priority of returning normalcy to the people of the Tigray region.” 

UN Says Humanitarian Agencies have asked for US$147 Million To help Ethiopian Refugees  

Today humanitarian agencies have asked for US$147m to help Ethiopian refugees from Tigray and host communities in Sudan for six months.

More than 43,000 have arrived so far, carrying almost nothing.

Their basic needs must be met, with special attention for the most vulnerable. pic.twitter.com/ppSUEz2Cma

— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) November 28, 2020

The head of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi  said Sunday he hoped humanitarian access to Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region would be granted soon by national authorities. Grandi said humanitarian agencies have asked for $147 Million to help Ethiopian refugees from Tigray and host countries in Sudan.

UN Says Full Scale Humanitarian Crisis in ETHIOPIA as 40,000 Refugees Flee to SUDAN

 The  U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) warned  that a “full scale humanitarian crisis” is developing in the Horn-of-Africa nation Ethiopia as more than 40,000 refugees flee a military conflict in the Tigray region into neighboring Sudan.  More than 30,000 have now crossed into Sudan through crossing points in Kassala and Gedaref states, as well as a new location further south at Aderafi, where Ethiopian refugees started crossing over the weekend, according to UNHCR. 

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in Tigray since an offensive by Ethiopian forces in the region began on November 4.

The scale of the influx is the worst that part of the country has seen in over 20 years, according to the UNHCR. Ethiopian Prime Minister Ahmed, has indicated the military operation  was launched in response to the reported occupation of a Government military base by Tigrayan forces nearly two weeks ago, would continue, although he said it was now in its “final phase”.    Tigrayans make up about 6% of Ethiopia’s  population of some 115 million. The Tigrayans formally dominated the government until PM Abiy came to power two years ago and jailed many Tigray senior officials. 

ETHIOPIA  Descending Into  CIVIL WAR, Threatening the Horn of Africa and Beyond

(credit: moderndiplomacy.eu)  /    Conflict in Ethiopia extends the Greater Middle East’s arc of crisis

Ethiopia, an African darling of the international community, is sliding towards civil war as the coronavirus pandemic hardens ethnic fault lines. The consequences of prolonged hostilities could echo across East Africa, the Middle East and Europe –  James M. Dorsey and Alessandro Arduino wrote in Modern Diplomacy. 

Last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed  received the Nobel Peace Prize for his  political reforms. Now look what is happening under his watch, as Ethiopia is moving toward a full-fledged civil war with thousands killed, and thousands of refugees. The conflict is very worrisome as it threatens to spill over into neighboring countries and destabilize the Horn of Africa by drawing in other international players in war.   Tigray’s ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) also accused Ethiopia of deploying drones from a military base in Eritrea belonging to the United Arab Emirates.