Police in Ethiopia on Tuesday announced that they have recovered thousands of firearms during a search operation in its restive Tigray region.
Ethiopia’s federal police said they have seized the firearms in collaboration of the Ethiopian Defense Force during the operation and dozens of individual assault guns and group weapons were recovered.
The police did not mention the exact number of firearms they have managed to retrieve the weapons apparently from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which has been fighting federal forces for control of the region.
Apart from law enforcement operations, the police are working on restoring normalcy in the region — according to a report by the Federal Police.
Last week, the provisional administration of Tigray introduced a deadline for those who are armed (either by TPLF or on their own) to surrender their weapons to members of the Ethiopian Defense Force.
December 15, 2020 was the last day for people to return their guns voluntarily — licensed or otherwise.
It was since then that law enforcement bodies, including members of Ethiopian Defense Force, started house-to-house searches to disarm those who are armed.
According to the provisional administration, it was an action necessary to restore peace in the region.
Police said they would strengthen efforts to retrieve as many firearms as possible.
 |
MG/as/APA