Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras / AFP / Getty Images
The former leader of the embattled region of Ethiopia in Tigray promised to continue a months-long battle with the federal government in a conflict that displaced hundreds of thousands, killed thousands and threatened to destabilize the Horn of Africa.
“Let our enemies and friends know that until we win our victory, we will go nowhere,” said Debretsion Gebremichael, who was president of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. He spoke on a recorded phone interview broadcast on Saturday night on an online television channel, Dimitsi Weyane.
Several top TPLF leaders were killed, including former Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin, and other prisoners. This is the first time in almost two months that Debretsion, who is wanted by the government on charges of terrorism and treason, speaks publicly.
Bloomberg was unable to contact Debretsion independently, but a senior TPLF member speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons confirmed that it was him. Thousands of Tigray supporters on social media also expressed relief when they heard him speak.
Debretsion urged the people of Tigray to continue the struggle with “greater determination and without internal division” and accused Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Amhara forces and Eritrean forces of looting, raping women and killing boys.
Billene Seyoum, Abiy’s spokesman, did not immediately speak about the recording.
Federal troops in response to an alleged attack on November 4 entered the region and overthrew a dissident ruling party that opposed Abiy since he took power in April 2018. Although the government announced victory on November 28, the fighting in continuous Tigray.