Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed told parliament on Monday that a general in Ethiopia’s federal military’s Northern Command could have been poisoned.
Two weeks before the launch of a full-scale military operation against Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), General Diriba, the commander of the Northern Command, was in meeting with TPLF leaders in Tigray, Abiy said, adding that he fell ill and then lost consciousness and was flown to Armed Forces Hospital in Addis Ababa, Abiy said.
He further added that people who were with the general brought the information that the general was poisoned. “We suppressed it until it has been verified,” he said. General Diriba had not yet returned to work due to his condition, Abiy said.
Following this, Abiy said he was forced to appoint a general to lead the Northern Command and that the TPLF leadership said it would not accept the new appointee, adding that “In fact, there was a desire to eliminate the general and reject who was to replace him.”
“Then they attacked the Command and abducted the deputy commander, General Adem,” Abiy told the lawmakers.
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