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Updated 4:00 PM EST, Sun November 22, 2020
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Ethiopians call for the end of the government's military actions in the northern Tigray region in front of the US State Department in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2020. - Clashes broke out between the federal military forces and local security units in the northern region of Tigray, where the ruling party has defied the authority of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)
Why are there fears of civil war in Ethiopia?
03:07 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

After weeks of deadly conflict in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has given Tigrayan forces a 72-hour deadline to surrender.

In a statement posted on Twitter Sunday, Abiy said that government forces were now “in the third and final phase” of their military operation in the area.

Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province lay in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref province, on November 18, 2020. - Sudan -- one of the world's poorest countries, now faced with the massive influx -- has reopened the camp, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border. It once housed refugees who fled Ethiopia's 1983-85 famine that killed over a million people. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)
Ethiopian refugees who fled fighting in Tigray province lay in a hut at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref province, on November 18, 2020. - Sudan -- one of the world's poorest countries, now faced with the massive influx -- has reopened the camp, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border. It once housed refugees who fled Ethiopia's 1983-85 famine that killed over a million people. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)
Ebrahim Hamid/AFP/Getty Images

Related article These refugees fled a massacre in Ethiopia's Tigray region. They join tens of thousands making the journey to Sudan

“We urge you to surrender peacefully within the next 72 hours, recognizing that you are at a point of no return,” he added, addressing members of the local ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), directly.

Ethiopian federal forces have been at war with the regional government of Tigray, which borders Eritrea and Sudan, since the beginning of November, when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a military offensive including air strikes.

The conflict followed tension over Tigray’s unilateral decision to elect a regional administration against Abiy’s wishes.

“Our operation aims to end the impunity that has prevailed for far too long and hold accountable individuals and groups under the laws of the land,” Abiy said at the time.

There have since been “frequent bombings in the Tigray capital of Mekelle, including near a church and university,” a humanitarian source with knowledge of the situation told CNN earlier this week.

Hundreds have died and at least 30,000 refugees have fled to neigboring Sudan, according to the United Nations.

Ethiopian refugees fleeing fighting in Tigray province queue to receive supplies at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref province, on November 16, 2020. - Sudan -- one of the world's poorest countries, now faced with the massive influx -- has reopened the camp, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border. It once housed refugees who fled Ethiopia's 1983-85 famine that killed over a million people. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)
Ethiopian refugees fleeing fighting in Tigray province queue to receive supplies at the Um Rakuba camp in Sudan's eastern Gedaref province, on November 16, 2020. - Sudan -- one of the world's poorest countries, now faced with the massive influx -- has reopened the camp, 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border. It once housed refugees who fled Ethiopia's 1983-85 famine that killed over a million people. (Photo by Ebrahim HAMID / AFP) (Photo by EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images)
EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images

Related article A full-scale humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Ethiopia, the UN says

In a statement posted by the TPLF on Facebook Wednesday, Tigrayan leaders vowed that “the people of Tigray will never kneel down to actions of aggressors,” as Abiy said the deadline for them to surrender had expired.

Tigrayan leaders have accused Abiy’s federal forces of killing innocent civilians while targeting churches and homes. The government has denied targeting civilians and CNN has been unable to verify claims from either parties due to the communications blackout. Internet, mobile phones and landlines are all down.

In his statement on Sunday, Abiy called on the people of Mekelle to “play a key role” in the defeat of the TPLF by “standing in solidarity with the national defence.”