Ethiopia's minister in charge of democratisation, Zadig Abraha, has said the ongoing fighting between federal troops and those loyal to the Tigray regional government is not a civil war.

The minister also told BBC's Focus on Africa that the conflict will not escalate into the region.

This is after regional heads of state Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta called for talks and cessation of hostilities.

"The people of Tigray are not fighting against us, they are under the subjugation of the military dictatorship of the TPLF, that is why I'm not calling it a civil war. It's a pity that people are displaced and forced to go to Sudan but it is a TPLF deliberate tactic to uphold an international attention towards this conflict," he said.

Mr Zadig said the government will help its citizens return home safely.

"The conflict in Tigray maybe a little bit bigger than the rest of them but it is because TPLF was part of the establishment and part of the ruling in Ethiopia," he said.