Clashes started again between the federal government and Tigray forces in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, the tension between the federal government and the Tigray region in the north of the country has turned into open conflict again.

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) launched a large-scale offensive against federal forces, seizing control of three airports and advancing towards neighboring Afar and Amhara states.

TPLF Deputy Chairman Amanuel Assefa said in his statement to the French news agency AFP, "We are in a state of all-out war right now."

The clashes completely disrupted the fragile calm that followed the civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people between 2020 and 2022 and ended with the Pretoria Peace Agreement.

The conflict was sparked on Wednesday when TPLF forces seized three airports under the control of federal police and launched attacks on neighboring states.

The sides accuse each other of restarting the conflict.

A humanitarian source in Afar reported that armed elements trying to capture the town of Yallo, near the Tigray border, carried out heavy artillery fire on Thursday.

A foreign security source based in Ethiopia reported that the fighters took control of Abala, also on the Tigray-Afar border.

The foreign security source stated that there were also violent clashes around the city of Weldiya in Amhara, which is one of the few routes leading to the capital Addis Ababa.

Experts point out that these steps coincide with the strategy of cutting supply lines and advancing to the capital in the 2020-2022 war.

Speaking to AFP, regional expert Kjetil Tronvoll from Oslo New University College said that TPLF's ultimate goal is to capture Addis Ababa, but the tactical moves to reach the city are not yet known.

Tronvoll stated that the Afar offensive aimed to cut Ethiopia's supply line with Djibouti, which provides almost all of its international trade cargo, including fuel.

Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie Amde condemned the "forces of destruction and chaos" and "interference in internal affairs of hostile elements" in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

The alliance balances on the field have also changed radically compared to the last war.

The TPLF has formed a new alliance with six other armed groups in Amhara, including the Fano militia, aimed at overthrowing the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

However, in the previous civil war, the Fano militia and Eritrea sided with the federal army against the Tigray forces.

The two sides have distanced themselves from the federal government following their dissatisfaction with the peace agreement signed in 2022.

The Pretoria Agreement was effectively eroded by divisions within the TPLF and the hawkish wing of the party removing the interim administration in the region and regaining control.

Human rights organizations accuse the TPLF of rearming and forcibly recruiting people while nearly a million people remain displaced from the last war.

The federal army has also previously carried out attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles in Tigray and built a military buildup on the border of the region.