“From tomorrow, I will personally go to the war front to lead the defense forces,” he wrote in a statement on Twitter late Monday, calling on civilians to “lead the nation with a sacrifice” and join them. called upon. requested. “Those of you who aim to become one of the children of Ethiopia who will be celebrated in history, rise up for your country today, let’s meet on the frontlines of the war.”
“Past and present, the needs and lives of each of us are below [the needs of] Ethiopia,” Abiy said. “We would rather die to save Ethiopia than to save Ethiopia.”
Abi referred to the push as “the final battle to save Ethiopia” as “enemies internal and external”, who he claims are “ready to build their strength on Ethiopia’s weakness.”
The Tigreyan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – Tigre’s former ruling party – claimed that its fighters had captured the two cities while moving towards the capital, Addis Ababa, a year after the conflict began in the north. more than once. Country.
One of the TPLF’s claims was captured on Saturday, involving Shewa Robit, about 220 km (136 mi) northeast of Addis Ababa. CNN could not reach the federal government for comment on the claim.
TPLF spokesman Getachev Reda responded to Abiy’s statement in a tweet, warning that “our forces will not count on his massive progress toward strangling our people.”
While the prime minister is on the battlefield, his duties and other administrators involved in the fighting will be performed by federal and regional officials who will “act to the best of their ability” to oversee the country’s development and administration.
“Ethiopia is the name of the conquerors,” Abiy concluded his statement, “I never doubt that my generation will pay the price in its name as a symbol of freedom.”
In November 2020, Abiy ordered a military offensive in the northern Tigre region and promised that the conflict would be resolved quickly. A year later, the fighting killed thousands, displaced more than two million people from their homes, fueled famine and triggered a wave of atrocities.