Reports: Tigray conflict spreading to other parts of Ethiopia

August 8, 2021 carleyshaffer1 US 0

FILE - In this Friday, May 7, 2021 file photo, a fighter loyal to the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) mans a guard post on the outskirts of the town of Hawzen, then-controlled by the group but later re-taken by government forces, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s spreading Tigray conflict faces a fresh wave of fighting as an Amhara regional official says Amhara forces will launch an offensive on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2021 against Tigray forces who have entered the region and taken control of a town hosting a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Amhara region’s head of peace and security says “this is the time for the Amhara people to crush the terrorist group.” Separately, Ethiopia’s foreign ministry warns that the Tigray forces’ incursion into the Amhara and Afar regions in recent weeks “is testing the federal government’s patience" on the unilateral cease-fire it declared weeks ago. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

A fighter loyal to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) mans a guard post on the outskirts of the town of Hawzen, then-controlled by the group but later re-taken by government forces, in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 5:05 PM PT – Saturday, August 7, 2021

Officials in Ethiopia warned the Tigray conflict is spilling into other parts of the country. According to an official from the Amhara region, local forces are preparing to launch an offensive against federal troops from Tigray on Saturday.

This comes after Tigray forces took over the Amhara town of Lalibela, which houses a UNESCO World Heritage site. International leaders have expressed concern over the escalating conflict since violence between federal and local troops erupted in November.

Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, weighed in on the matter saying, “the U.S. is watching with great alarm as a conflict that began in Tigray is now beginning to spread. We now estimate that there are roughly 76,000 internally displaced persons in Afar, and 150,000 internally displaced persons in Amhara after TPLF military expansion into neighboring provinces.”

Today marks nine months since the start of the conflict in #Tigray.

The US is watching, with great alarm, as a conflict that began in Tigray is now beginning to spread.

— Samantha Power (@PowerUSAID) August 4, 2021

In the meantime, Power is leading the charge for global powers to send aid to Tigray. However, top Ethiopian officials have suggested they’ll send the full force of their military to the problem region if there is no sign of a peaceful resolution.