Al-Madina News: On Wednesday, official Ethiopian TV stated that the Air Force shot down a jet that crossed Sudanese border and invaded our airspace, carrying weapons for the Tigray Liberation Front.
According to CNN, Major General Tesfaye Ayalu, the person in charge of the National Defense Forces’ Joint Military Operations Department, the jet is suspected to be held by what he characterised as Ethiopia’s “historic foes,” without naming a specific country.
He also asserted that the army is more equipped than ever before to defend the country’s sovereignty.
According to an Ethiopian military official, an unidentified jet was about to penetrate our airspace through Sudan and pass the northern section of Ethiopia’s Hamra area on its way to Tigray to transfer weapons to the Tigray Liberation Front when it was shot down by the Ethiopian Air Force.
Despite the existence of (unnamed) forces utilising the Tigray Liberation Front to breach Ethiopia’s sovereignty, he stated that the Ethiopian National Army and Ethiopians are on high alert to safeguard the nation and its sovereignty.
The Sudanese side did not respond on what the Ethiopian military officer claimed regarding the jet that crossed Sudanese airspace till 13:40 GMT.
There has also been increased fighting between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray Liberation Front, the first breakdown of the ceasefire accord and humanitarian truce since March.
Today, Wednesday, the two sides exchanged claims of targeting the other side’s border checkpoints in areas bordering the Amhara and Tigray regions in the country’s north.
According to a statement reviewed by Al-Ain News from the Federal Government Communications Office, the Tigray Liberation Front conducted an offensive on the eastern lines of Ethiopian army forces, in blatant violation and in preparation for another round of war that the front is planning.
The Ethiopian government urged the international community to apply pressure on the Tigray Liberation Front to end the conflict and save the lives of Tigrayan youngsters.
She also urged all Ethiopians throughout the world to join the government in resisting the Tigray Liberation Front’s onslaught, emphasising that all Ethiopian problems can only be handled via peaceful methods and negotiation.
The Ethiopian government reaffirmed its obligation and legal and historical commitment to maintaining the country’s sovereignty and security.
Earlier in the day, Getachew Reda, the spokesperson for the Tigray Liberation Front, accused the Ethiopian government of beginning an attack on the Southern Front positions following a week of provocation by special forces teams in Amhara.
He said that Amhara militias attacked their forces from all throughout the province’s southern region, as did Fano forces from the Lulu region and the Sixth Southern Command.
Last July, the Ethiopian government declared its willingness to speak with the Tigray Liberation Front, which it labels a terrorist organisation, without preconditions.
Fighting started in the Tigray area in November 2020, spreading to the adjacent Afar and Amhara regions the following year, although the rate of fighting has slowed since the federal government declared a unilateral humanitarian truce in March.
Ethiopia: A aircraft carrying weapons in favour of the Tigray Liberation Front was shot down.
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