AU Monitoring, Verification and Compliance Mission

An official in Tigray’s new federally backed administration has urged rebel forces to lay down their weapons in the northern Ethiopian region. The call on Friday came hours after a rebel commander told his fighters to continue resisting government-backed forces despite losing control of Mekelle, the Tigray region’s capital.

Ahmed's office said on social media that "repeated efforts" to resolve the conflict in the region have ultimately failed. The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) leadership "did not desire peace," it said, and instead initiated the latest "devastating war." The prime minister's office said that in order to secure peace, an interim administration was being appointed in the region and would administer Tigray for the next 6 months. Ahmed's office listed 10 primary tasks, among them, "free and fair elections" within a 6-month period.

Eritrea has asked the United Nations to take “deterrent measures” after what it called Ethiopia’s “declaration of war” in the conflict over the Tigray region. Eritrea’s request comes a day after Addis Ababa, in a letter to the Security Council, accused Asmara of launching an “all-out invasion”, saying Eritrean troops had advanced up to 60 kilometres (37 miles) into Ethiopia’s Tigray.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called for an immediate end to the renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia, saying he is deeply worried by reports that Eritrean forces are present in the country. In a statement issued on Friday night in New York by his Spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, the UN chief urged all parties to cease hostilities and called on the signatories of the Pretoria Agreement to return to dialogue under its framework. The 2022 accord ended the civil war in Tigray.

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan have called for political and peaceful solutions amid escalating conflicts across the region, including Sudan’s civil war and major fighting in Ethiopia.

Rebel forces in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region have said they have temporarily withdrawn from the regional capital, Mekelle, as fighting with the national army moves towards the city.

Ethiopia’s army commander has accused Sudan and Egypt of backing armed groups fighting its troops in the north of the country after heavy clashes resumed between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government.

The UN said on Friday it remains gravely concerned by the continued deterioration of the security situation across northern Ethiopia, as fighting spreads across multiple fronts and increasingly disrupts humanitarian operations.

Tigray rebels in Ethiopia told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, September 24, they were in a state of "full-blown war" with the federal government, with reports of hundreds killed and heavy artillery attacks in neighboring states. Tensions have been rising for months between the federal government and the authorities in the northern Tigray state, who fought a devastating civil war in 2020-2022 that killed more than 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates. 

Several of the rebel groups which have been fighting the Ethiopian authorities in different parts of the country have announced they have formed an alliance to remove the government in Addis Ababa. The alliance brings together the Fano militia in Amhara, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and four other smaller groupings in a coalition named Alliance for Survival.