Reports posted on social media, according to which the organization wants to leave Ethiopia and requested the relocation of its officials, are completely false, said a statement from the AU Commission.

An alleged internal memorandum attributed to the president of the Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, circulates in the networks, but it is false news and has no basis in fact or form, the statement stresses.

According to local authorities, the TPLF and its allies are not besieging the main city of the state, but there is a narrative of the conflict in the north of the country that misrepresents the facts in order to misinform and create alarm.

War broke out on November 2020 in the northern state of Tigray, after the Front attacked the Northern Command and in response Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed deployed federal troops to stamp it out.

The government acknowledged the attempts to invade towns, but denied that they were controlled by enemy troops and reported the success of several air strikes on TPLF sites and training bases.

The Ethiopian Council of Ministers declared last week a state of emergency for the next six months to protect the integrity of the nation from the criminality of the Tigray forces, according to an official communiqué.

pgh/llp/mem/raj