The Ethiopian government on Wednesday began restricting telephone and internet services within the Tigray region, hours after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed ordered a military response to an ambush on the military.
Information access rights group, Access Now, shows that the region had been closed to the world after the government imposed a six-month state of emergency, accusing the region of threatening the sovereignty of the country.
“The government of Ethiopia has again shut down the internet,” Access Now said.
“Mobile network, fixed-line internet and landline telephony have been cut in Tigray, as PM (Abiy Ahmed) declares a state of emergency and orders military intervention against Tigray People’s Liberation Front.”
The Front is said to have attacked a military camp under the Ethiopian National Defense Forces in Tigray and tried to rob weapons from the camp, according to a statement issued by Abiy’s office on Wednesday.
By Thursday morning, calls to sources in Tigray were not going through as they remained offline on their internet platforms. Addis Ababa did not however clarify the claims about internet closure.
Ja kenn Publishing PLC, the Ethiopian group that owns the Addis Standard issued an editorial demanding open channels to access the region and report on the incident, according to Nation.
“Reporting on conflicts is never an easy task, but it is important that journalists are able to reach sources on the ground to update the world on the condition and safety of civilian citizens who are possibly caught in the crossfire of such conflicts,” the news organization indicated.
“As an independent media based in Ethiopia and concerned about the safety of civilian citizens, with a responsibility to provide the local and international community with factual updates, and in this age when we struggle with the proliferation of fake news, we kindly ask the government to let the truth be upheld and allow the restoration of all means of communication in Tigray regional state.”
Authorities in Ethiopia often internet communication mostly when there is a security problem. In July, Ethiopia shut down the internet for about a month following a deadly protest that led to the assassination of an activist and popular musician Hachalu Hundessa.
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Tension rose on Wednesday evening after TPLF, which operated the autonomous Tigray region – one of the ten federal regions in Ethiopia, responded by banning any type of flights in the region.
The local administration also warned against any military movement near its borders threatening to take action against any forces attempting to cross the regional borders.
Even as Addis Ababa ordered its troops to launch an attack on TPLF, the region claimed that all the federal forces that were stationed in Tigray had decided “to stand with Tigray in a struggle to remove pm Abiy led unconstitutional government.”
It further called on all Federal forces to abandon the central government and join the TPLF-led struggle.
