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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo

Ethiopia On Brink Of All-Out War. Aired 6-6:04p ET

Aired November 04, 2021 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:09]

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome. This is THE GLOBAL BRIEF. I'm Bianca Nobilo in London.

Tonight, Ethiopia is on the brink of an all-out civil war. The international community is condemning the crisis. But is it already a

matter of too little, too late?

Then, as global coal heavyweights turn on their back on new climate commitments, we look at the barriers to renewable energy.

And, a #MeToo allegation against a powerful ex-official in China triggers blanket censorship.

There's growing uncertainty in Ethiopia as rebel troops make their way towards the country's capital. The rebels claim to have captured two towns

en route to Addis Ababa. Tigrean TV showed this video of fighters marching through the town of Dessie during the weekend, before moving to Kombolcha.

Both towns are several hundred kilometers away from the capital city.

The government denies that they have fallen, and insists it still has control.

But Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration is clearly rattled by all this. Today, Ethiopian lawmakers ratified a six-month state of emergency,

meaning the government can conscript civilians to fight its war, a war which has already killed thousands of people in the Tigray region.

CNN's David McKenzie tells us why the trajectory of the conflict is so dramatic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bianca, the events of this week in Ethiopia certainly shocked some diplomats and surprised I think some

members of Prime Minister Abiy's government in Addis Ababa.

The fact that you had TDF rebels in a major city, several hundred kilometers away from the capital, is significant. This war, since its

beginnings a year or so ago, has generally been focused in the northern Tigray province. After that province and the leadership there tried to

break away in certain ways from the federal leadership, that's what started this conflict. Abiy has been pushing for an Ethiopian nationalism.

But what the events of the last few months, and last few days have shown is that the ethnic dimension and the power from these regions is really

threatening the national state in the capital. You've had the Tigrean people's liberation group and the TDF joining together in some ways with

the Oromo Liberation Army. These are not natural bedfellows. But the fact that they are joining up to have a military push if not on Addis but at

least to threaten Addis, means they can potentially apply a great deal of political pressure on Prime Minister Abiy in the coming days.

You have the senior U.S. envoy from the Horn of Africa in Addis Ababa, having talks there. He will be trying to push them to a negotiating table.

But there have been no signs of peace talks, in particular because the levels of atrocities in this conflict, according to the U.N. and the

Ethiopian human rights groups, have been horrible. They've been sustained, and they continue in the Tigray region -- Bianca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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