Ethiopia's Tigray gov. sounds alarm as armed factions seize key towns
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Fears of a civil war loom over Ethiopia's Tigray as the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) take control of two key towns.
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Ethiopians holding national flags protest against interference by outsiders in the country's internal affairs and against the TPLF, at a rally organized by the city administration in the capital Addis Ababa, Oct. 22, 2022. (AP)
In Ethiopia's Tigray region, the interim government urged the federal authorities to intervene after a faction within the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seized two key towns, wounding several people and raising concerns about a potential resurgence of civil war.
On Tuesday, the TPLF faction took control of Adigrat, Tigray’s second-largest town, replacing the interim government’s administrator with its own appointee. By Wednesday night, it had also captured Adi-Gudem, near the regional capital Mekele. Several people were injured in Adi-Gudem during an attempt to occupy a government building.
In November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent soldiers into Tigray, bringing a long-simmering dispute with the TPLF to a climax. The conflict spun for two years before ending in November 2022 with a peace agreement that led to the establishment of a TPLF-led interim administration.
The war saw thousands dead, displaced millions, and pushed many to the brink of famine in Africa’s second-most populous nation.
Since the war’s end, the TPLF has fractured. In October, its leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, removed interim government head Getachew Reda and four of his cabinet members from the party.
In response, Reda, who played a key role in negotiating the peace agreement, temporarily suspended four high-ranking military commanders he suspected of siding with Gebremichael’s faction.
Ethiopia 'on the brink of another crisis'
The Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau, part of the interim government, warned in a statement on Wednesday that the region might be on the verge of another crisis.
Meanwhile, Reda has characterized the TPLF's recent moves as a "potential coup attempt." In a televised interview, he urged the international community—one of the main guarantors of the Pretoria Peace Agreement—to closely monitor the escalating tensions in the conflict-ravaged region.
"The parties to the Pretoria Agreement should really take into account the deteriorating situation in Tigray and the far-reaching ramifications of the unraveling of the Pretoria agreements," he stated.
TPLF deputy chairman Amanuel Assefa told The Associated Press that the ongoing crises are primarily a matter of law enforcement and are unrelated to the Pretoria Agreement.
"The TPLF and the Tigray forces are the rightful owners of the Pretoria Agreement. Therefore, there is no reason to engage in any actions that would violate that," he said.
