Fears of renewed violence are linked to the split in the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the party that fought against Ethiopia’s federal army during the two-year violent conflicts and runs Tigray's post-war interim administration.
During the war, Eritrean forces crossed the border into the Tigray region and fought in support of Ethiopia's federal army against TPLF forces.
According to Reuters, “The peace deal signed in November 2022 drove a wedge between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which was not party to the negotiations.”
“Fears of a new conflict are linked to the TPLF's split last year into a faction that now administers Tigray with the blessing of Ethiopia's federal government and another that opposes it,” Reuters March 13 report says, adding that earlier, on March 11, a TPLF dissident faction captured Adigrat town, Tigray’s second-largest town, accusing the leadership of Tigray of “selling out Tigrayan interests, while the interim administration accuses the dissidents of collaborating with Eritrea.”
The seizing of Adigrat followed the capture of “key offices and a radio station in the regional capital, Mekelle,” according to a March 14 BBC News report.
In a March 12 Reuters report, the head of Tigray's interim administration, Getachew Reda, is quoted asking Ethiopian government support against the dissidents, who have since denied ties to Eritrea.
"There is clear antagonism between Ethiopia and Eritrea," Mr. Getachew is quoted as telling journalists on March 10, adding that “what concerns me is that the Tigray people may once again become victims of a war they don't believe in."
"We have reason to believe external actors are involved," Mr. Getachew has also been quoted as saying in his accusation of Eritrea as being among those who think "they would benefit from turmoil in Tigray".
In its March 14 report, Reuters has warned that “a conflict would signal the death blow to a historic rapprochement for which Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 and risk creating another humanitarian disaster in the troubled Horn of Africa region.”
Renewed violence in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, Reuters indicates in a March 13 report, would “likely create another crisis in a region where aid cuts have complicated efforts to assist millions affected by internal conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia.”
