Clashes in Ethiopia widen as rival forces dispute who began fighting
Fighting reported in Tigray, Afar and Amhara follows the formation of an alliance of seven armed movements. The scale of the escalation remains unclear.
Fighting between federal forces and armed groups has intensified in Tigray and reportedly spread to neighbouring Afar and Amhara, raising concern the clashes could widen. The competing accounts of who initiated the fighting remain unresolved.
The Tigray Army said federal forces launched a full-scale offensive and that its forces began counteroffensive operations. Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, accused the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) of starting the attack. TPLF central committee member Abdisalam Balema told Al Jazeera the situation had become a “full war”, though its extent was not yet known.
Tigrayan forces said they seized airports in Tigray, prompting Ethiopian Airlines to suspend flights across the region. Local reports said the forces also captured Abala, a district capital in Afar; the supplied reports do not independently confirm either claim.
The escalation came days after seven armed movements, including the TPLF, announced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which says it seeks to remove Abiy’s government. The alliance said federal forces were attacking its members on several fronts. Its members have differing histories and unresolved disputes, including over western Tigray.
The regional bloc IGAD called for hostilities to cease and direct dialogue to resume. About 750,000 people were already displaced within Tigray because of the earlier war, according to UN migration data.
The Pretoria agreement ended the two-year Tigray war in November 2022, but subsequent political fractures and conflicts reshaped alliances. The current scale and duration of the fighting remain uncertain.
