ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian forces battled overnight to repel an assault by Tigray rebels in the Afar region, a humanitarian source said on Friday, with reports of an internet blackout in the north of the country.The battle lines in Ethiopia have dramatically changed, with armed groups once on opposing sides having joined a new alliance fighting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.Rebels in the northern Tigray region seized local airports and launched attacks into the neighbouring states of Afar and Amhara this week, saying they were once again in a “full-blown war” with the federal government.Locals fear a repeat of the telecoms blackout and supplies blockade imposed on Tigray during the last civil war in 2020-2022.About 600,000 people died between 2020 and 2022 during the devastating war between the Ethiopian army and the paramilitary group the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both sides are now accusing the other of triggering a return to open conflict.Online monitor Netblocks said there was an “internet disruption in northern Ethiopia corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray”. A humanitarian source in Afar said there was “heavy fighting overnight” around the town of Abala that sits in the mountains on the border with Tigray.“The federal forces pushed the rebels from entering the town,” the source said, adding that a drone was used by the army.Heavy clashes occurred in North Wollo Zone of Amhara on Thursday, including around the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Lalibela, home to Ethiopia’s famed rock churches.Analysts say the TPLF appears to be repeating its strategy from the last war — pushing south through Amhara towards the capital, Addis Ababa, while the offensive in Afar is likely aimed at cutting off supplies from Djibouti, which provides almost all of Ethiopia’s international trade cargo, including fuel.The TPLF has forged an alliance with six other armed groups around the country in a bid to overthrow the government of Abiy Ahmed.“The alliance is likely trying to seize settlements alongside key infrastructure routes to undermine federal government’s ability to supply,” Edward Bach of consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft told AFP.The government has a significant military advantage, however, with a large arsenal of drones, an army numbering some 500,000, and the support of external actors.The renewed fighting comes at an awkward moment for the United States, which only this month lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea related to atrocities committed during the last civil war.The US embassy sided with Ethiopia’s government this week, saying it was “disappointed” to see the leadership of the TPLF launch a large-scale offensive.The conflict could also draw in neighboring Eritrea, which fears landlocked Ethiopia is planning to invade it to gain access to the Red Sea.Back in Tigray, prices for basic goods have been spiking as locals raced to stock up on supplies.“There is panic in the community,” said Samuel Gebreslassie, 37, who works in a spice shop in the Tigray capital, Mekelle.“There is deep fear that banks, telecom networks, electricity and basic goods could be cut off again.”The TPLF ruled the whole of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with Abiy’s rise, eventually triggering a civil war marked by widespread war crimes and sexual violence.The Pretoria Peace Agreement of 2022 maintained an uneasy calm until last year, but was never fully implemented, with around one million people still displaced.Sporadic clashes then resumed, with the federal forces launching multiple drone strikes in Tigray in recent months and massing troops at the border.Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepared for renewed conflict.ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopian forces battled overnight to repel an assault by Tigray rebels in the Afar region, a humanitarian source said on Friday, with reports of an internet blackout in the north of the country.The battle lines in Ethiopia have dramatically changed, with armed groups once on opposing sides having joined a new alliance fighting Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.Rebels in the northern Tigray region seized local airports and launched attacks into the neighbouring states of Afar and Amhara this week, saying they were once again in a “full-blown war” with the federal government.Locals fear a repeat of the telecoms blackout and supplies blockade imposed on Tigray during the last civil war in 2020-2022.About 600,000 people died between 2020 and 2022 during the devastating war between the Ethiopian army and the paramilitary group the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both sides are now accusing the other of triggering a return to open conflict.Online monitor Netblocks said there was an “internet disruption in northern Ethiopia corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray”. A humanitarian source in Afar said there was “heavy fighting overnight” around the town of Abala that sits in the mountains on the border with Tigray.“The federal forces pushed the rebels from entering the town,” the source said, adding that a drone was used by the army.Heavy clashes occurred in North Wollo Zone of Amhara on Thursday, including around the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Lalibela, home to Ethiopia’s famed rock churches.Analysts say the TPLF appears to be repeating its strategy from the last war — pushing south through Amhara towards the capital, Addis Ababa, while the offensive in Afar is likely aimed at cutting off supplies from Djibouti, which provides almost all of Ethiopia’s international trade cargo, including fuel.The TPLF has forged an alliance with six other armed groups around the country in a bid to overthrow the government of Abiy Ahmed.“The alliance is likely trying to seize settlements alongside key infrastructure routes to undermine federal government’s ability to supply,” Edward Bach of consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft told AFP.The government has a significant military advantage, however, with a large arsenal of drones, an army numbering some 500,000, and the support of external actors.The renewed fighting comes at an awkward moment for the United States, which only this month lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea related to atrocities committed during the last civil war.The US embassy sided with Ethiopia’s government this week, saying it was “disappointed” to see the leadership of the TPLF launch a large-scale offensive.The conflict could also draw in neighboring Eritrea, which fears landlocked Ethiopia is planning to invade it to gain access to the Red Sea.Back in Tigray, prices for basic goods have been spiking as locals raced to stock up on supplies.“There is panic in the community,” said Samuel Gebreslassie, 37, who works in a spice shop in the Tigray capital, Mekelle.“There is deep fear that banks, telecom networks, electricity and basic goods could be cut off again.”The TPLF ruled the whole of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined with Abiy’s rise, eventually triggering a civil war marked by widespread war crimes and sexual violence.The Pretoria Peace Agreement of 2022 maintained an uneasy calm until last year, but was never fully implemented, with around one million people still displaced.Sporadic clashes then resumed, with the federal forces launching multiple drone strikes in Tigray in recent months and massing troops at the border.Rights groups have accused the TPLF of a campaign of forced recruitment this year as it prepared for renewed conflict.
Internet disruption in Ethiopia as conflict rages
