ADDIS ABABA, 04 December, 2020, (TON): The leader of Ethiopia’s Tigrayan forces said on Friday that protests were breaking out in the regional capital which fell to federal troops days ago in their month-long war.

However, state TV showed images of people shopping and sitting on stools in Mekelle, while the new government-appointed chief executive of Tigray said peace was returning to the area.

Fighting between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s federal army and forces loyal to the region’s former ruling party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), has raged since November 4th.

With communications largely down and access for media restricted, claims from all sides have been impossible to verify. But thousands of people are believed to have died while more than 45,000 refugees have crossed to neighbouring Sudan.

TPLF leaders, who have enjoyed strong popular support for years in Tigray, appear to have fled to surrounding mountains and begun a guerrilla-style resistance.

Violence in Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray has escalated, with hundreds of soldiers and an untold number of civilians killed in a worsening dispute between regional forces and the national government.