Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, took a sizeable risk when he chose her as the youngest minister in his cabinet: Filsan Abdi was an outspoken activist from the country’s marginalised Somali community, with no government experience. In September, she became the only cabinet minister to resign over Abiy’s handling of the war. Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region, where the war had been contained until June, has been subjected to a near-total communications blockade since fighting began in November 2020. Abiy accuses the TPLF of instigating the war with an attack on a military base, in which Tigrayan soldiers killed scores of non-Tigrayan soldiers. In his and other official statements, the line between the stated enemy – the TPLF – and Tigrayans in general has increasingly blurred.

Source: Ethiopian News January 04, 2022 11:57 UTC