Addis Ababa Police seized 355 illegally held weapons including 199 Kalashnikov from the affiliates of Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) juntas, which is now engaged in a military confrontation with Ethiopian army in Tigray Region in the northern part of the country.
Addis Ababa Police indicated that the captured weapons include 104 pistols, 20 SKS guns, 5 radio, GPS, compass, grade and 14,324 bullets. The police has also seized 162 individuals who were preparing to execute terrorist acts in Addis Ababa taking order from the TPLF junta, which now the government describes as terrorists.
The TPLF which came to power in 1991 through arms struggle has been leading Ethiopia until, the ruling coalition dominated by the TPLF has unexpectedly managed to elect Abiy Ahmed as its leader in April 2018.
Since then, the headliners in the TPLF has decided to leave the coalition and began acting as opposition party. On the other hand some progressive TPLF leaders have decided to join the ruling coalition, rebranded as Prosperity Party now led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The tension between the federal government and the TPLF hardliners of which most are in the wanted list for human rights crimes and grand corruption, has finally led to a military confrontation this week.