“This situation has reached a level where it cannot be prevented and controlled by the normal law enforcement system,” a statement from Abi’s office said on Wednesday.
The emergency will last for six months and will be overseen by a task force led by the army chief.
Under the Ethiopian Constitution, the federal government is mandated to “protect the peace and sovereignty of the country and to maintain public security and law and order, including the suspension of political and democratic rights.”
The statement came after the prime minister ordered military action in the region on Wednesday.
“The federal government has used all means to prevent military intervention against the TPLF” Amid growing tensions between the federal government and the ruling party in the Tigre region, but “has crossed the last red line,” an earlier statement read.
Abi vowed that this mission would save the country and the region from leading to instability.
The details of the attack on the military base are unclear, but Abi alleged that the TPLF tried to rob the base of artillery and military equipment.
The Abyssinian office said the TPLF was building military organizations similar to the Eritrean National Defense Force to retaliate against the Eritrean government for making false claims of attack.
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks announced that Internet services in the Tigre region have been closed since 1am local time on Wednesday.
The TPLF has dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for 30 years. In 2018, mass anti-government protests brought Abi to power. Tensions between the party and the federal government over local and national elections and military assets established in the Tigre region have risen in recent months, according to the International Crisis Group.
The Ethiopian government has indefinitely postponed all elections previously planned for August due to the corona virus outbreak. The Tigre region decided to hold its own local elections in September, branded illegal by the federal government.
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