Amhara region’s president called all residents armed to be stationed against neighboring Tigray insurgents.

The president of Ethiopia’s Amhara region has called on all citizens carrying weapons to deploy against rebels from nearby Tigray.

“Beginning tomorrow [Monday], I am calling on all individuals of legal age who are armed in whatever capacity, whether government or private, to mobilise for a survival campaign,” Agegnehu Teshager is reported as saying by the AFP news agency.

Mr Agegnehu’s call to arms comes on the heels of a similar remark by the head of Ethiopia’s Afar region on Friday, raising concerns that the eight-month-old war in Tigray might expand.

A spokesperson for the Tigrayan rebels has said that they would free “every square inch of Tigray,” which includes disputed regions held by Amhara troops since the war’s inception.