US Considering ‘Full Range of Tools’ to Respond to Ethiopia Fighting

 

The Ethiopian government launched an offensive against Tigray forces

by Dave DeCamp 

Posted onOctober 12, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsEthiopia

The US is considering a “full range of tools” to use in response to reports of Ethiopia’s government launching an offensive against forces from the northern Tigray region, State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday.

“We are considering the full range of tools at our disposal to address the worsening crisis in northern Ethiopia, including potentially the use of targeted economic sanctions,” Price told reporters.

The Biden administration has already issued sanctions against Ethiopian and Eritrean officials over the fighting, sparking protests in Ethiopia against Western intervention. In September, President Biden signed an executive order authorizing potential sanctions against Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party of Tigray.

This week, the TPLF said the Ethiopian army launched an offensive against them in the Amhara region. A spokeswoman for Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the offensive is meant to push the TPLF out of Amhara, an area the group entered over the past year of fighting.

The conflict that started in November 2020 has been a brutal war, with both sides accused of massacring civilians. So far, the war has killed thousands and displaced at least two million people.'

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/10/12/us-considering-full-range-of-tools-to-respond-to-ethiopia-fighting/