Ethiopia’s Nobel Peace laureate PM Abiy Ahmed says he’ll ‘lead army from battlefront’
- The prime minister’s declaration marks a dramatic new step in the country’s devastating year-long war
- With rival Tigray forces moving closer to the capital of Addis Ababa, his government declared a state of emergency earlier this month
Ethiopia’s prime minister says he will lead his country’s army “from the battlefront” beginning Tuesday, a dramatic new step by the Nobel Peace Prize-winner in a devastating year-long war.
“This is a time when leading a country with martyrdom is needed,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement posted on social media Monday night. With rival Tigray forces moving closer to the capital of Addis Ababa, his government declared a state of emergency earlier this month.
An estimated tens of thousands of people have been killed in the war between Ethiopian and allied forces and fighters from the country’s northern Tigray region, who long dominated the national government before Abiy took office.
The United States and others have warned that Africa’s second-most populous country could fracture and destabilise the whole Horn of Africa.
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The statement by the prime minister, a former soldier, does not say where exactly he will go on Tuesday. His spokeswoman, Billene Seyoum, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Let’s meet at the battlefront,” the 45-year-old prime minister said.