ADDIS ABABA — Regional forces in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray on Wednesday seized control of three airports and clashed in multiple locations with federal troops, escalating fears of a return to full-scale conflict after months of growing tensions.The move shatters a peace deal that ended the 2020-2022 conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces, and comes amid a backdrop of deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan’s civil war, tensions over Red Sea access, and the Horn of Africa being dragged into Middle East conflicts.Getachew Reda, a cabinet minister and adviser to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said Tigrayan fighters had taken control of federally administered airports in Tigray and launched offensives in neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.Earlier, the Tigrayan authorities said their forces had been forced to enter a “defensive war”. The statement followed reports of drone strikes in Tigray.The two-year war in Tigray ended in 2022, but over recent months both sides have been accusing each other of violating a peace deal.The African Union estimated that some 600,000 people died as the deadly fighting drove the region to the precipice of famine.On Sunday, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that runs Tigray, announced an alliance with six other armed groups in Ethiopia to remove the government in Addis Ababa.”It is rather heartbreaking to learn that, despite efforts by many, including the international community, to avoid yet another round of war in Tigray, the TPLF leadership early this morning launched an all-out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara,” Getachew said in a statement shared on social media.Following the seizure of the airports, Ethiopian Airlines has canceled all flights to Tigray.Residents of Tigray’s main city of Mekelle told the BBC that local forces had taken over control of the city’s airport from the national police early on Wednesday.This followed reports of drone strikes in Tigray in recent days.The chairperson of the Africa Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has called for an “immediate de-escalation” and for both sides to resume talks.The US ambassador to Ethiopia condemned the TPLF for making “the poor decision to launch a large-scale offensive”, describing it as an “unwinnable fight”.On Tuesday, a strike in the southern town of Alamata killed at least 14 people and injured 22 others, according to the Tigrayan authorities.The town’s mayor, Mogos Shiferaw, told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet had carried out more than 21 strikes starting at around 03:30.”This caused a lot of psychological trauma in our city and our people were in a state of panic,” he said.Mogos said all those killed and injured were civilians, accusing federal forces of targeting two secondary schools.He believed they were struck on suspicion that they were being used by Tigrayan forces.But the mayor said the schools, which had served as federal military bases during the civil war, were unoccupied as the academic year had not yet begun.On Wednesday, the Tigray authorities accused Addis Ababa of launching an “open invasion” of the region, urging people to support the regional forces and maintain unity.It further accused the government of violating international humanitarian and human rights laws, saying public services and critical infrastructure had been disrupted.Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs has condemned a separate drone strike that it said took place on Monday, targeting a convoy of Catholic vehicles carrying food aid.It called for an investigation and urged all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue and take steps to prevent similar incidents.Both Addis Ababa and TPLF leaders have faced criticism over delays in implementing key provisions of the Pretoria Agreement, the AU-brokered deal that formally ended the conflict in November 2022.In July, Prime Minister Abiy accused the TPLF of preparing for renewed conflict during an address to parliament.Just before the general election in May, which was not held in Tigray because of the security situation, the TPLF restored its pre-war administration, disbanding an interim one appointed by Abiy. There have also been reports that the TPLF has been forcibly recruiting young men to join its forces.Diplomats warn that a renewed Tigray war would no longer be a largely isolated Ethiopian conflict.Instead, it would unfold as the Horn of Africa faces its most volatile security environment in years, with war raging in Sudan, persistent instability in Somalia, tensions over the Nile and expanding war and geopolitics from the Middle East spilling into the region.Ethiopia has been accused of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which is fighting Sudan’s army in one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.ADDIS ABABA — Regional forces in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray on Wednesday seized control of three airports and clashed in multiple locations with federal troops, escalating fears of a return to full-scale conflict after months of growing tensions.The move shatters a peace deal that ended the 2020-2022 conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces, and comes amid a backdrop of deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan’s civil war, tensions over Red Sea access, and the Horn of Africa being dragged into Middle East conflicts.Getachew Reda, a cabinet minister and adviser to Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said Tigrayan fighters had taken control of federally administered airports in Tigray and launched offensives in neighboring Afar and Amhara regions.Earlier, the Tigrayan authorities said their forces had been forced to enter a “defensive war”. The statement followed reports of drone strikes in Tigray.The two-year war in Tigray ended in 2022, but over recent months both sides have been accusing each other of violating a peace deal.The African Union estimated that some 600,000 people died as the deadly fighting drove the region to the precipice of famine.On Sunday, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that runs Tigray, announced an alliance with six other armed groups in Ethiopia to remove the government in Addis Ababa.”It is rather heartbreaking to learn that, despite efforts by many, including the international community, to avoid yet another round of war in Tigray, the TPLF leadership early this morning launched an all-out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara,” Getachew said in a statement shared on social media.Following the seizure of the airports, Ethiopian Airlines has canceled all flights to Tigray.Residents of Tigray’s main city of Mekelle told the BBC that local forces had taken over control of the city’s airport from the national police early on Wednesday.This followed reports of drone strikes in Tigray in recent days.The chairperson of the Africa Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has called for an “immediate de-escalation” and for both sides to resume talks.The US ambassador to Ethiopia condemned the TPLF for making “the poor decision to launch a large-scale offensive”, describing it as an “unwinnable fight”.On Tuesday, a strike in the southern town of Alamata killed at least 14 people and injured 22 others, according to the Tigrayan authorities.The town’s mayor, Mogos Shiferaw, told the BBC that more than five drones and one fighter jet had carried out more than 21 strikes starting at around 03:30.”This caused a lot of psychological trauma in our city and our people were in a state of panic,” he said.Mogos said all those killed and injured were civilians, accusing federal forces of targeting two secondary schools.He believed they were struck on suspicion that they were being used by Tigrayan forces.But the mayor said the schools, which had served as federal military bases during the civil war, were unoccupied as the academic year had not yet begun.On Wednesday, the Tigray authorities accused Addis Ababa of launching an “open invasion” of the region, urging people to support the regional forces and maintain unity.It further accused the government of violating international humanitarian and human rights laws, saying public services and critical infrastructure had been disrupted.Meanwhile, the US State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs has condemned a separate drone strike that it said took place on Monday, targeting a convoy of Catholic vehicles carrying food aid.It called for an investigation and urged all parties to resolve their differences through dialogue and take steps to prevent similar incidents.Both Addis Ababa and TPLF leaders have faced criticism over delays in implementing key provisions of the Pretoria Agreement, the AU-brokered deal that formally ended the conflict in November 2022.In July, Prime Minister Abiy accused the TPLF of preparing for renewed conflict during an address to parliament.Just before the general election in May, which was not held in Tigray because of the security situation, the TPLF restored its pre-war administration, disbanding an interim one appointed by Abiy. There have also been reports that the TPLF has been forcibly recruiting young men to join its forces.Diplomats warn that a renewed Tigray war would no longer be a largely isolated Ethiopian conflict.Instead, it would unfold as the Horn of Africa faces its most volatile security environment in years, with war raging in Sudan, persistent instability in Somalia, tensions over the Nile and expanding war and geopolitics from the Middle East spilling into the region.Ethiopia has been accused of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, which is fighting Sudan’s army in one of the world’s deadliest conflicts.
TPLF offensives in Tigray fuel fears of wider conflict
