How the Ethiopian leader and the peace award winner suddenly found himself fighting the Tigrayan rebels as a frontline soldier.
Abraha Desta served in that federally-appointed administration as the head of the Bureau of Social Affairs of Tigray. He is the highest-ranking official from the interim administration to be arrested.
The development came as a senior Amhara official says the rebels, known as the Tigray People's Liberation Front, were pushing "deep" into Amhara territory and hinted at possible retaliation.
Ethiopia's Tigray forces free 1,000 captured soldiers Leader of the Tigray People's Liberation Front says the group still has 5,000 and that it will keep senior officers "who will face trial".
Pro-TPLF forces are also seeking a UN probe into 'horrific crimes' carried out during the conflict and an international entity to oversee the implementation of any ceasefire deal should it be created.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry says government-declared ceasefire with rebel Tigrayan forces is a work in progress after Ethiopian troops left Tigray's regional capital Mekelle on Wednesday after months of fighting.
The region’s civilian population faces a serious humanitarian crisis as Ethiopian forces, Tigrayan forces and Eritrean forces are all accused of violent excesses.
"The region [Mekele city] doesn't have a government," an interim official tells AFP news agency, signalling a turning point in nearly eight-month-old conflict.
Parliamentary elections are the first test of public support for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is expected to cement his hold on power despite global criticism over the ongoing war in the northern Tigray region.
PM Abiy's newly-formed Prosperity Party is the frontrunner in a crowded field of candidates mostly from smaller, ethnically-based parties. Meanwhile, opposition alleges irregularities in regional and national parliamentary elections.
UNICEF’s statement comes day after UN warning that 2 million people are on brink of famine with hundreds of thousands of people already starving in the region.
UN food agency WFP says a total of 5.2 million people in the war-torn region of the country are facing growing levels of malnourishment, especially among women and children.
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