Ethiopian Diplomat Says Talk Of Capital Takeover 'Disinformation,' TPLF Militarily Spent

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th November, 2021) Speculations about the risk of Addis Ababa falling to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) is disinformation, as the rebels have exhausted their military potential, Ambassador to the United States Fitsum Arega told Sputnik.

"The Ethiopian government is not concerned the TPLF may capture the country's capital. Talk of fall of the capital to the terrorist TPLF is disinformation propagated by the terrorists themselves and their global supporters," he said. "TPLF is militarily spent."

In early November, Ethiopia declared a six-month state of emergency nationwide to protect the population from the rebels, who claim to be advancing on the capital. This development prompted several countries to start evacuating their diplomatic missions.

"As a government, we are responsible for the peace, stability and maintenance of law and order in the country. We are using our resources to make sure terrorism will not succeed in Ethiopia. The capital is in no danger of terrorist takeover because the people of Ethiopia are united and determined to repel any aggression by the terrorists and their supporters. Our people will never submit to terrorist rule," Arega stressed.

Arega drew a comparison between the TPLF attack on the Northern Command in November 2020, which sparked the current conflict, and the Southern American rebel attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina in 1861.

"A similar event happened at the onset of the American Civil War. During the attack on Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln had no option but to defend the Constitution and to keep the United States united. That is exactly what the Ethiopian government did. Defend the country's constitution against an attack aimed at dismantling the country. Like Lincoln, the Ethiopian government sought to accommodate the threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity by balancing the needs and safety of its citizens. That is why the government declared a unilateral ceasefire which the TPLF used as a springboard to attack neighboring regions," Arega said.

Northern Ethiopia has been engulfed by an internal conflict since November of last year, when the central government accused the TPLF of attacking a military base and launched a counter-operation in Tigray. Hostilities have been going on since despite a June ceasefire.