NYT opinion: Tigray conflict is war of choice planned by Abiy Ahmed before Nobel Peace Prize

CAIRO – 16 December 2021: There is evidence that Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had been planning to launch a military campaign against foes in Tigray even before the Nobel Peace Price he was awarded in 2019, an opinion piece published in the New York Times on Wednesday says.

Ahmed was awarded Nobel largely for the peace deal he signed with Isaias Afwerki, the authoritarian leader of Eritrea, only months after he assumed office as president.

The deal ended war between the two countries, which lasted for two decades.

Ahmed and Afwerki exploited the Nobel to plan for a war against their mutual enemies in the Tigray region, the NYT article cited anonymous Ethiopian officials as saying.

The article was written by Declan Walsh, the chief Africa correspondent in the newspaper.

Thousands of civilians have been killed, millions have been displaced, and over nine million people were left dependent on food assistance due to the year-old conflict between Ethiopian government forces and the leadership of Tigray, Reuters reported.

The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency as rebels came closer to the capital, forcing numerous countries to urge their communities to leave Ethiopia immediately.