Ethiopia's Abiy Warns Tigray Forces: Surrender Deadline Has Passed

The government emergency task-force in Ethiopia said on Tuesday that the National Defense Forces have carried out 'precision led and surgical air operations' outside Mekele, the capital of Tigray, amid a continuous conflict for nearly two weeks, according to Sputnik News agency.

On his part, Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed revealed that the three-day deadline for rebel regional forces to surrender has expired, noting that the final critical act of law enforcement will be implemented in the coming days.

Earlier, Abiy said that "the military operation in the Tigray region to support the rule of law is progressing well," noting that his country is able to achieve the objectives of its military operation in the northern Tigray region “by itself”.

Abiy Ahmed issued the statement on Twitter hours after the commander of Tigray’s forces, Debretsion Gebremichael, announced that his forces were fighting forces from neighboring Eritrea in addition to the Ethiopian federal forces.

The statements of the Ethiopian Prime Minister came a few hours after the statements of the leader of the local forces in the Tigray region, in which he said that his forces fired missiles at the airport of the Eritrean capital Asmara on Saturday evening, confirming the reports of diplomats of a major escalation in the 12-day conflict in Ethiopia.