Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
The former leader of Ethiopia’s controversial Tigray region pledged to continue a months-long battle with the federal government in a a conflict that has displaced hundreds of thousands, killed thousands and threatened to destabilize the Horn of Africa.
“Let our enemies and friends know that we will not go anywhere until we get our victory,” said Debretsion Gebremichael, who chaired the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. He spoke into a recorded telephone interview aired late on Saturday on an online television channel, Dimitsi Weyane.
Several senior TPLF leaders have been murdered, including former Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, and others have been arrested. This is the first time in nearly two months that Debretsion, who is wanted by the government on charges of terrorism and treason, has spoken publicly.
Bloomberg was unable to contact Debretsion independently, but a senior TPLF member speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons confirmed it was him. Thousands of Tigray supporters on social media were also relieved to hear him speak.
Debretsion called on the people of Tigray to continue the fight with “more determination and without internal division,” and accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the Amhara and Eritrean forces of looting, rape of women and murder of young men.
Billene Seyoum, a spokesman for Abiy, did not immediately talk about the recording.
Federal forces responding to an alleged November 4 attack entered the region and toppled a dissident ruling party that has been opposing Abiy since he took power in April 2018. Although the government announced victory on November 28, the fighting in Tigray has nevertheless continued.