Ethiopia Accuses Neighbors of Backing Tigray Fighters as Clashes Spread

Some soldiers of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces after finishing their training in the field of Dabat, 70 kilometres north-east of the city of Gondar, Ethiopia, on September 14, 2021. Photo: Amanuel Sileshi/AFP

Ethiopia has accused Eritrea, Sudan, and Egypt of supporting armed groups fighting federal forces, as renewed clashes between the military and Tigrayan fighters spread into neighboring regions, France24 reported.

Fighting between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) intensified last week.

Tigrayan forces have taken control of airports in Tigray, Ethiopia’s northernmost region, and advanced into neighboring Afar to the east and Amhara to the south.

According to France 24, Tigrayan fighters captured Erebti, a town in Afar near the border with Tigray, after heavy artillery fire.

A humanitarian source estimated that at least 150,000 people had been displaced across Afar amid the fighting.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk warned that the recent escalation has already harmed civilians.

According to the UN, Ethiopian military airstrikes, including drone strikes, hit five schools in Tigray on September 22, causing deaths and injuries.

A mortar strike in Kobo, in Amhara, reportedly killed civilians the following day.

Communications disruptions are adding to the danger.

Phone and internet services have reportedly been interrupted in Mekelle, Tigray’s capital, and parts of Amhara, while roads have been blocked in parts of Afar.

Türk warned that disrupted communications could make it harder for civilians to reach safety and for aid workers to find people in need.

The UN said it had received reports that the TPLF was forcibly recruiting civilians, including children, and retaliating against people who resisted, as well as reports of arbitrary conscription by government forces.

Renewed clashes have raised fears of a conflict on the scale of the war fought between 2020 and 2022, when federal forces, backed by local militias and Eritrean troops, fought the TPLF, killing at least 600,000 people according to estimates of the African Union.

A peace agreement signed in Pretoria ended the war in 2022, but it was never fully implemented.

Key disputes remain unresolved, and many people displaced by the fighting have yet to return home.