On Wednesday, armed groups operating in Ethiopia’s Tigray region took control of three airports – in the towns of Shire, Axum and Mekelle – and engaged federal forces in a series of gun battles, according to Reuters reports from London.
The seizure marks the first large‑scale military action since the Pretoria Agreement was signed in November 2022 to end the dead‑deadly conflict between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government, a deal that has been under strain for months as each side accused the other of violations.
The latest offensive follows a split within the TPLF that saw a hard‑line faction re‑assert control over the region, ousting an interim administration and forming an alliance with six other armed groups from across Ethiopia, including former wartime adversaries, with the stated aim of overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
Ethiopian officials have alleged that Eritrea is providing financial support to members of the alliance, a claim that the Eritrean government has denied. The United States lifted sanctions on Eritrean defence forces earlier this month, a move seen as a nod to Eritrea’s strategic Red Sea coastline but whose impact on the unfolding conflict remains uncertain.
Diplomats warn that a renewed war in Tigray could quickly spill beyond Ethiopia’s borders, intersecting with the civil war in Sudan, ongoing instability in Somalia, and heightened tensions over Red Sea access and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. The renewed fighting threatens to drag the Horn of Africa into a broader regional conflagration.