Ethiopia’s federal military and an alliance of armed groups have engaged in renewed fighting across the country’s northern regions, according to official statements and media reports. In his first public comments on the developments, issued Sept. 27, Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Berhanu Jula said the military was responding with restraint to actions from what he termed the “Tigray front,” as the clashes challenge the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement.
The fighting follows the formation of a coalition named the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The alliance, which includes seven armed groups, has publicly stated its objective is to remove the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
In his statement, Berhanu accused Eritrea of funding and supporting armed groups to weaken Ethiopia. He described the new alliance as an extension of external support. Eritrean officials have denied the accusations.
Reports indicate that clashes have occurred in the Tigray, Afar, and Amhara regions. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a party to the conflict, said the federal government had initiated a “full-scale offensive” using infantry, mechanized units, and drones. Abdisalam Balema, a TPLF central committee member, told Al Jazeera the situation had escalated into a “full war.”
The Ethiopian army reported on Thursday that it had conducted a counter-offensive in the North Wollo zone of Amhara, stating it had killed 272 Tigrayan fighters and wounded 260. The government also reported military operations around the towns of Abala in Afar and near Sama, Soqota, and Alamata in Amhara. The army command said it prefers a strategy of “strategic calm” over a large-scale military operation.
The United Nations has expressed concern over the situation, stating on Thursday that it was alarmed by reports of drone use against civilians in northern Ethiopia. The same day, reports emerged of internet access being cut across the region.
The renewed conflict puts the 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which formally ended a two-year civil war centered in the Tigray region, under significant strain. The developments occurred weeks after the United States lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea that were related to the previous conflict, announcing that the “national emergency … has expired.”
During an address to the U.N. General Assembly, Ethiopia’s president portrayed the country as a force for regional stability and accused unspecified external actors of interfering in its internal affairs.
