MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th November, 2020) The Russian Foreign Ministry has urged the conflicting sides in Ethiopia to end hostilities, which flared up between the Federal government and the restive northern region.
On Wednesday, the Ethiopian government accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party in the northern Tigray region, of attacking a local military base. Ensuing clashes led to multiple casualties on both sides.� Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed later mobilized the army to confront the defiant region's authorities.
"We call on the conflicting sides to unconditionally cease hostilities, which pose a serious threat to the country's domestic political stability and threaten the lives of the civilian population and foreign specialists. We believe that all disputed issues should be settled through a peaceful dialogue at the negotiating table," the ministry said.
It went on to express hope that the situation in the African country would normalize and return to the constitutional framework.
The TPLF is in opposition to the incumbent government. In September, it asked the cabinet to hold local elections, which were earlier postponed over COVID-19. After getting a rejection, the party organized elections on its own which the central government never recognized as legitimate.
In the wake of the current confrontation in the north, the prime minister's office announced a state of emergency in Tigray for a period of six months in light of "illegal and violent activities endangering the constitution and constitutional order."
