Home · World · Sep 24 archive
Ethiopia and Tigray Accuse Each Other of New Offensives
Confirmed
In Short: The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government have accused each other of launching offensives, escalating fears of renewed conflict in the region.
Abdisalam Balema, a member of the TPLF's central committee, told Al Jazeera that federal forces had begun an offensive around southern Tigray, involving infantry, mechanized units, and drones.
Fighting has spread to the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions, with TPLF forces reportedly seizing airports in Tigray and Ethiopian Airlines suspending flights.
The two-year war in Tigray ended in 2022, but both sides have accused each other of violating the peace deal in recent months.
The renewed conflict has displaced an estimated 750,000 people internally within Tigray, according to UN migration data.
The escalation has disrupted air travel, with Ethiopian Airlines suspending flights across Tigray following the seizure of airports.
The renewed fighting raises concerns about regional spillover and the potential for a wider conflict.
The TPLF's announcement of an alliance with six other armed groups in Ethiopia to remove the government in Addis Ababa has further fueled tensions.
The competing accounts of how the escalation began highlight the complexity of the situation and the immediate question of whether Ethiopia has entered a wider conflict.
What's confirmed
- Abdisalam Balema, a member of the TPLF's central committee, told Al Jazeera that federal forces had begun an offensive around southern Tigray, involving infantry, mechanized units, and drones.
- Fighting has spread to the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions, with TPLF forces reportedly seizing airports in Tigray and Ethiopian Airlines suspending flights.
- The two-year war in Tigray ended in 2022, but both sides have accused each other of violating the peace deal in recent months.
- The renewed conflict has displaced an estimated 750,000 people internally within Tigray, according to UN migration data.
- The escalation has disrupted air travel, with Ethiopian Airlines suspending flights across Tigray following the seizure of airports.
- The renewed fighting raises concerns about regional spillover and the potential for a wider conflict.
- The TPLF's announcement of an alliance with six other armed groups in Ethiopia to remove the government in Addis Ababa has further fueled tensions.
- The competing accounts of how the escalation began highlight the complexity of the situation and the immediate question of whether Ethiopia has entered a wider conflict.
What's still developing
- Getachew Reda, a former senior TPLF figure who now advises Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, gave the opposite account of how the fighting began, accusing the TPLF of launching the attack.
- The intensification came days after seven armed movements from across Ethiopia, including the TPLF, announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which committed itself to removing Abiy’s government.
- TPLF fighters were patrolling the streets of Mekelle on Wednesday Ethiopia's government and the party in control of the northern region of Tigray have accused each other of launching offensives, escalating fears of a return to full-scale conflict.
- Getachew Reda, a cabinet minister and adviser to Ethiopia's prime minister, said Tigrayan fighters had taken control of federally administered airports in Tigray and launched offensives in neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.
- Earlier, the Tigrayan authorities said their forces had been forced to enter a "defensive war".
- The adviser to Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed previously led Tigray's interim administration, but he fell out with the TPLF in 2025 and joined the federal government.
- 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.
- The statement followed reports of drone strikes in Tigray.