NAIROBI (Reuters) – Ethiopia on Wednesday said its army had killed three members of the former ruling party in the Tigray region, including former Ethiopian foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin.
The three Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) officials were killed and five other party members were arrested after refusing to surrender to the military, the government’s Tigray Crisis Task Force said on Twitter.
The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared victory in its conflict with the TPLF on November 28 last year after nearly a month of fighting.
Volatile TPLF leaders promised to continue fighting from the mountains of the region in northern Ethiopia, but Reuters could not contact them for weeks.
The military said last week it had captured Sebhat Nega, a founding member of the TPLF.
According to state-run TV, the weekend said he killed 15 members of the TPLF and captured eight others.
Seyoum was Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister from 1991 to 2010.
Airstrikes and battles in Tigray since early November are thought to have killed thousands of people. The struggle continues in some parts and more than 2 million people need help, the United Nations said this week.
Reuters could not confirm claims from either side as telephone and internet connections to the Tigray region are down and access to the area is strictly controlled.
(Reported by Nairobi News Office, Written by Maggie Fick, Edited by Timothy Heritage)