An escalating conflict in Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region has killed hundreds of people, sources on the government side say, even as the prime minister sought to reassure the world his country was not sliding into civil war. The flare-up in the northern area bordering Eritrea and Sudan threatens to destabilise Africa’s second most populous country, where ethnic conflict has already killed hundreds since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took over in 2018. “Concerns that Ethiopia will descend into chaos are unfounded and a result of not understanding our context deeply,” he tweeted on Monday. Three security sources in Amhara working with federal troops said the Ethiopian army had also lost hundreds in the original battle in Dansha. Tigrayans account for just 5 per cent of Ethiopians but had, before Mr Abiy’s rule, dominated politics since rebels from their ethnic group toppled Marxist military rule in 1991.

Source: Ethiopian News November 09, 2020 19:07 UTC