Ethiopian parliament has now stripped 39 members, including the Tigray regional president Debretsion Gebremichael, of immunity from prosecution. As both authorities are at logger heads.
The state news agency reported on Thursday, a senior official, Getachew Reda, of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) which is fighting federal forces, also lost immunity.
Communications are down and outsiders have been barred. Reporters say it is hard to know how Abiy Hamed’s week-long offensive against Tigray people’s liberation front -regional rulers was progressing.
Security sources and state media have spoken of hundreds of deaths in the state of more than 5 million people where federal warplanes have been pounding arms as soldiers fight on the ground.
Many Ethiopian refugees have fled into Sudan on Wednesday.