A MEMBER OF THE AMHARA SPECIAL FORCES SITS NEXT TO A MACHINE GUN AT AN IMPROVISED CAMP IN THE FRONT OF A SHOP IN HUMERA, ETHIOPIA. PHOTO: EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Ethiopia’s prime minister announced Thursday that he had ordered the national army to launch a long-feared assault on Tigray’s regional capital Mekelle, a city of about half a million people, after a deadline for rebel leaders to surrender expired.