Tigray Leaders Declare New War as Fighting Spreads to Afar and Amhara
Tigray's leaders say they are at war with Ethiopia's federal government again, as clashes are reported in Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
Leaders of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region said on Wednesday that they had entered a new war with the federal government, as fighting broke out across Tigray and two neighbouring regions, upending a peace deal that had held for four years.
The 2020-2022 civil war between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces killed hundreds of thousands of people before the Pretoria Agreement was signed in November 2022.
The renewed hostilities follow months of mounting friction between the two sides, culminating in Sunday's announcement that the TPLF had joined an alliance with six other armed groups from across Ethiopia, with the stated aim of toppling Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government.
In a statement, the TPLF-led regional administration said the federal government had intensified what it described as an invasion of Tigray by various means, and that Tigrayan forces had been instructed to counter the attack and had entered a defensive war.
Getachew Reda, an adviser to Abiy and a former TPLF official, wrote on X that the TPLF had taken control of federally run airports in Tigray and launched an all-out offensive against government positions in the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara. Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to the region.
Four sources — a senior Ethiopian government official, a diplomatic source, a humanitarian source, and a source with links to the TPLF and an allied militia — confirmed the developments in Tigray, Afar and Amhara. They said Tigrayan forces were fighting alongside a local armed group in Afar, and alongside the Fano militia in Amhara.
Fano backed the federal government during the 2020-2022 war but turned against it in 2023, and is a member of the newly formed alliance with the TPLF.
Spokespeople for Abiy, the federal government and the TPLF did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The federal government has accused the TPLF of violating the Pretoria Agreement and of seeking to create chaos.
Abiy's spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, said on Monday that members of the newly announced alliance had been working together for some time with financial backing from Eritrea, Ethiopia's neighbour and historic adversary. Eritrea has repeatedly denied accusations that it supports Ethiopian armed groups, and its information minister declined to comment on Wednesday on the latest developments.