Fighting raises conflict fears in Ethiopia

Flights were suspended and Internet services disrupted across parts of northern Ethiopia as fighting spread and the government said it had killed 272 rebels, raising fears of a return to the brutal civil war that ended in 2022.

The renewed fighting comes four years after Ethiopia signed a peace deal with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) — ending a two-year war that killed more than half a million people — which said this week that it had formed an alliance with other rebel groups to take on the government. Conflict in Ethiopia risks conflagration in the wider region, with civil war in neighboring Sudan ongoing and simmering tensions with Eritrea.

The newly formed Alliance for Survival said it launched “large-scale defensive operations” on Wednesday in response to attacks by federal forces in Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions. It accused the government of cutting key public services in those areas.

Residents gather to buy flour and other food products at a market in Mekelle, Ethiopia, on Thursday.

Photo: AFP

The risk of renewed all-out conflict has deepened over disputed territory, the return of displaced people and the future of Tigray’s political leadership. The alliance brings together rebel groups in the Tigray, Oromia, Amhara, Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.

“The army is currently reading the situation of the enemy and carrying out counter attacks,” Ethiopia’s army said in a statement on Thursday.

A government spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

In recent days, forces affiliated with the TPLF have taken control of several airports including in Mekele and fighting in Lalibela led to the city’s airport being closed.

US ambassador to Ethiopia Ervin J. Massinga said he was “disappointed to see the leadership of the TPLF” had launched “a large-scale offensive.”

The EU and the UK have called for immediate de-escalation.

“We condemn the attacks by the Tigray Defence Forces in Afar and southern Tigray, and the takeover of Tigray’s airports following the removal of legitimate federal authorities. All parties must refrain from further escalation,” a UK government spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday.

The northern Tigray region also faced an Internet outage.

“Network data indicate a sub national internet disruption in northern #Ethiopia corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in #Tigray,” Internet monitoring group NetBlocks wrote on X. “The incident comes amid escalating conflict between Tigrayan forces and the national army.”

Violence in the restive northern region resumed on Wednesday when federal troops pushed back against forces affiliated with the TPLF that has taken control of several airports in the region.

How the situation evolves depends on the number of fronts that open in the coming days and weeks, and the rebels’ capacity to successfully launch joint operations, analysts said.

“How will the government respond? With restraint or with total war? That now looks like the key question,” said Alan Boswell, project director for the Horn of Africa at the International Crisis Group.