Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has gone to the front lines to coordinate the fight against the Tigrayan forces, according to state-run media.
Late Monday, Abiy said that he would personally lead the fight against Tigrayan forces and their supporters. “Let’s meet at the war front,” he wrote “The time has come to lead the country with sacrifice.”
According to a report from the Fana news outlet, government spokesman Legesse Tulu said during a press conference that Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen Hassen would take command of normal government activities while Abiy is absent.
Two Olympians have also declared that they are joining the military and are prepared to fight in the war.
Gold medalist Haile Gebrselassie, who holds 27 world long-distance records, confirmed his participation. Feyisa Lelisa, an Olympic silver medalist runner, is also in town and waiting to fight, local media reported.
Last month, Tigrayan forces and allies vowed to march on Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital. They’ve also been waging a ferocious battle to cut an easy route connecting landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti, the region’s biggest port.
The Ethiopian military and regional militias were able to fight off Tigrayan attempts to sever the corridor on Tuesday, according to US Special Envoy Jeffrey Feltman, but Tigrayan forces were able to proceed south towards the capital.
Because of Ireland’s stance on the crisis, Ethiopia expelled four of six Irish diplomats from the country on Wednesday.
Many foreign countries, including Switzerland and the United Kingdom, have instructed their citizens to leave Ethiopia because of the deteriorating security situation. Also, citizens have already been asked to leave by France and the United States.
However, Ethiopian police said they have educated roughly 147,000 residents in the capital to create neighborhood defense groups to assist in the detection of prospective infiltrators and have called for usual activities to continue.
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