When he sent the federal army into Tigray at dawn on 4 November, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali did not think that he would be bogged down three months later in an asymmetric war with an uncertain outcome. The 2019 Nobel Peace Prize winner repeatedly insisted at the time that his operation "to restore order" would be short. He was in a hurry to end 27 years of domination by the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The operation had been in preparation for a long time, notably through
In Focus | Ethiopia
Abiy purged his military high command to prepare for his war against the TPLF
Subscribers only
By Antoine Galindo
As soon as he arrived in power in 2018, the Ethiopian prime minister announced that he planned to reform the Ethiopian army high command, which he saw as a Tigrayan leadership stronghold. The reform, which was carried out quietly over two years, enabled Abiy to remove officers too closely linked to the Tigray People's Liberation Front. As a result, the high command currently leading the military offensive in Tigray has been largely purged.
