Ethiopia has offered a reward of more than $250,000 for the capture of senior members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) who have evaded capture.
The government would provide 10 million birr (around $257,000) for information leading to the capture of TPLF officials who led the region’s conflict against the federal government, Lieutenant General Asrat Denero, Information Department Head of the National Defense Force disclosed on Friday.
“The offer is made to apprehend the TPLF leaders in a short span of time,” Lt. Gen. Denero told the country’s main broadcaster.
In early November Ethiopian federal troops launched a military attack on Tigray’s leaders, saying they had provoked government forces.
The Tigray leaders who had refused to surrender after two ultimatums had been on the run since their capital Mekele was captured by federal troops.
Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, declared victory in late November but local reports suggest there are still some pockets of resistance by remnants of TPLF soldiers in areas around Tigray.
Thousands of people are feared to have died in the conflict that pitted Ethiopia’s federal government against the TPLF, a party that dominated federal politics for 27 years until the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Abiy came to power in April 2018.
The conflict in Tigray has alarmed the international humanitarian community, as communications remain cut off in the region.
The U.N. refugee agency said more than 50,000 Ethiopians, mainly from Tigray, have fled across the border to Sudan.
MG/as/APA