Ethiopia (Tigray)

Residents have begun fleeing the regional capital of Ethiopia's Tigray region amid fears of a return to open conflict, as tensions that have been building for weeks show no sign of easing.

A sense of anxiety is hard to miss in Tigray. Though the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement brought an end to fighting between the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), many in Tigray say life today is like walking on eggshells. … Multiple news outlets indicate that Ethiopian government soldiers and Tigrayan fighters have deployed along the Tigrayan region's northern border.

Tensions are running high among the Ethiopian federal government, Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region and neighbouring Eritrea, threatening a return to deadly conflict three years after the last war ended. With several possible triggers, a slide toward hostilities would be easy to start but much more difficult to stop.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk appealed on Tuesday to all parties involved in renewed heavy fighting in Ethiopia’s ‘precarious’ Tigray region to step back, warning of the potential for a deepening crisis in the country’s war-weary north and beyond. “The situation remains highly volatile and we fear it will further deteriorate, worsening the region’s already precarious human rights and humanitarian situation,” Mr. Türk said, following clashes in recent days between the Ethiopian army and regional forces.

Ethiopia’s foreign minister has accused neighbouring Eritrea of military aggression and of supporting armed groups inside Ethiopian territory, amid growing tensions between the neighbours.

[…] AU’s advance team of African experts under the African Union Monitoring, Verification and Compliance Mechanism (AU-MVCM) has arrived in Mekele today, according to the statement of AU Political Affairs Peace and Security (AUPAPS).  The AU-MVCM is “successfully redeployed after their administrative break, resuming their crucial mandate of monitoring the implementation of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement,” reads the statement. 

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed concerns over renewed conflict between the federal troops of Ethiopia and the Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), main opposition party in the Tigray region. … In a similar statement, the European Union, through its diplomatic service, the European External Action Service (EEAS), expressed grave concern over recent clashes between the forces.

A fragile three-year peace in northern Ethiopia is on the brink of collapse following reports of heavy fighting in western Tigray. The clashes, which erupted in the Tselemt area on or shortly before 29 January, have pitted the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and allied Amhara militias against Tigrayan armed groups.

Ethiopia’s Afar region has accused forces from neighbouring Tigray of crossing into its territory, seizing several villages and attacking civilians, in what it called a breach of the 2022 peace deal that ended the war in northern Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea’s government of working with an opposition group based in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region to prepare for a military offensive, underscoring concerns of renewed conflict in the region. Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos made the claim in a letter appealing to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, cited by the AFP news agency and Ethiopian media on Wednesday.