Ethiopia's leader said he would bury his enemy. His spokeswoman doesn't think it was incitement to violence

"We will bury this enemy with our blood and bones and make the glory of Ethiopia high again," Abiy said on the navy headquarters within the capital, Addis Ababa, on Wednesday, a day after declaring a nationwide state of emergency and urging Ethiopians to take up arms to battle advancing Tigrayan forces.

Abiy's publish was eliminated by Facebook for violating its insurance policies towards inciting and supporting violence. But the prime minister's spokeswoman, Billene Seyoum, denies that it and different current statements by Abiy quantity to requires violence.

Billene additionally said the Ethiopian authorities has contested Facebook's elimination of Abiy's publish, including that it was "not necessarily" a name "to arm everybody and descend into civil chaos, but ... about being vigilant in their communities."

More than a 12 months of conflict

The TPLF has been battling Ethiopia's navy for the reason that prime minister accused the group of attacking a federal military base and ordered an offensive in Tigray final November. The conflict has left hundreds useless, displaced greater than 2 million and fueled famine. Throughout the interview, Billene repeatedly accused CNN and different western media retailers of misrepresenting the battle in Ethiopia and contributing to "hysteria" that Addis Ababa was underneath siege. For the TPLF's half, spokesman Getachew Reda additionally informed Anderson on Tuesday that the group was "not interested in power, we're not interested in territory.""Abiy's bombers are killing our children day in and day out, for God's sakes, and we have to make sure those 'dogs of war' are restrained and we'll continue to take measures," Getachew said, referring to the continued battle in Tigray.

Getachew said that fighters aligned with the TPLF would proceed to battle till there was "readiness on the part of Abiy's government" to negotiate a ceasefire, and that the TPLF would be "more than glad to extend the olive branch as well."

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that whereas the investigation had uncovered violations linked to the Ethiopian navy and allied forces, it had additionally noticed "huge allegations of abuses by the Tigrayan forces" since Ethiopia declared the ceasefire in June. Getachew informed CNN that he "categorically" rejected the joint report due to the EHRC's involvement, and referred to as for an unbiased investigation. Tigrayans, human rights teams and different observers have additionally flagged issues in regards to the investigation's independence from authorities affect, although the UN has reaffirmed its impartiality.

Allegations of ethnic focusing on

"We know for a fact Abiy is trying to ratchet up violence against not only Tigrayans but also others who are not willing to fight in his desperate cause," said Getachew of the arrests. Billene informed CNN on Tuesday that she would want to get additional particulars on stories of alleged arbitrary detentions within the capital, however that the aim of the state of emergency was "not to target any particular person based on the identity that they are aligned to."Instead, the coverage is designed to "protect the Ethiopian people" and "to protect the residents of Addis Ababa" who've been informed they are going to come underneath siege, she said.

At least 16 UN workers members and dependents are among the many detained, in accordance to UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Speaking to press in New York on Tuesday, Dujarric declined to element the ethnicity of these detained. "These are United Nations staff members, they're Ethiopians ... and we would like to see them released, whatever ethnicity is listed on their identity cards," he said. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the stories have been "concerning," and that "if confirmed," the United States would condemn them. He added that the US understood from stories that these arrested have been Tigrayan, and that "detention on the basis of ethnicity is completely unacceptable."