The Ethiopian army has accused WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, of being the sponsor of the war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus served as Ethiopian Minister of Health (2005-12), before being appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs (2012-16). He is a leader of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which severed its ties with Marxism-Leninism after the dissolution of the USSR.

The TPLF reignited the rebellion on 4 November 2020. The Ethiopian army immediately embarked on a security operation. At the heart of the conflict lies a tribal opposition between the Oromo ethnic group (to which the Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Abiy Ahmed, belongs) and the Tigrayans.

According to Ethiopia’s army chief-of-staff General Berhanu, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made overtures to various African states in an effort to arm the rebellion. He is said to have obtained Egypt’s cooperation in supplying the fighters of the TLPF.