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Ethiopia capturing Tigray capital may not end conflict: Analysts
As federal forces encircle Makelle and TPLF remains defiant, analysts fear capture of the city may not end the crisis.
International
Leaders in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray state have rejected the government’s claims that federal troops are surrounding the regional capital, Mekelle, as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gives the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) until Wednesday to surrender.
TPLF leaders on Tuesday said the Tigrayan people are “ready to die” in defence of their land and said they have “completely destroyed” the federal army’s 21st mechanised division.
Later on Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council is expected to discuss the unrest, which has forced tens of thousands of Ethiopian civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring Sudan.
But analysts say the government troops capturing the Tigrayan capital may not be the end of the conflict in one of the poorest regions in Africa’s second-most populous country.
“The conflict could evolve and there is frightening possibility it could become entrenched. Both sides are heavily armed and this could lead to a prolonged insurgent warfare,” Ahmed Soliman, research fellow at London-based think-tank, Chatham House, told Al Jazeera.
“The impact of the conflict could also continue to spill over into neighbouring countries.”