The Tigray People’s Liberation Front takes control of airports and attacks government positions in the Afar and Amhara regions. Tigray rebels have taken control of airports in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region and launched an offensive against federal forces in the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions, according to officials. Getachew Reda, an adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, said the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) had “launched an all-out offensive against government positions in Afar and Amhara” early on Wednesday. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list In a post on “The political-military leadership of the TPLF has obviously taken irresponsibility to new heights,” he added. However, the Tigray regional government said it was countering an “invasion” by federal forces. posted on Facebook, accused federal troops of “intensive bombing” on Tuesday with “planes, drones and artillery.” “The Tigray army was instructed to counter the genocidal attack and invasion launched against us, and has entered into a defensive battle,” the statement added. The TPLF ruled Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018 before being sidelined after Abiy took office, triggering a devastating civil war from 2020 to 2022. The conflict killed about 600,000 people, according to African Union estimates, before the Pretoria Peace Agreement ended hostilities. Clashes in Afar and Amhara Clashes broke out in several parts of Afar on Wednesday, including the towns of Abala and Erebti, the AFP news agency reported, citing aid workers in the region. In Amhara, federal forces were firing heavy weapons from a camp in the town of Lalibela, Reuters news agency reported, citing two residents. The offensive came after the TPLF announced on Sunday that it had allied with six other armed groups across Ethiopia to overthrow Abiy’s government. Reuters, citing government and diplomatic sources, reported that Tigray forces were fighting alongside the Fano militia in Amhara. Fano is a member of the new alliance with the TPLF. He had sided with the federal government. government during the 2020-2022 war, but rose up against him in 2023 in an ongoing armed conflict that has led to thousands of deaths. Abiy’s spokeswoman Billene Seyoum told Reuters that alliance members had been collaborating for some time with financial backing from Ethiopia’s neighbor and historical adversary, Eritrea. Eritrea has repeatedly denied similar allegations. At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Ethiopian President Taye Atske-Selassie Amde said his country had exercised “immense restraint” and made progress with its neighbors despite foreign interference. “Our message to the forces of destruction and chaos is loud and clear. We urge you to respect the sacred right of the people of the Horn of Africa to live in peace and prosperity,” he said. Analysts warned that renewed hostilities could destabilize the region, which has not yet recovered from the previous war. Around a million people remain displaced in the region. Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa director for the International Crisis Group, said accusations that Eritrea backs the TPLF could spark a regional conflict. “Eritrea is also quite close, for example, to the Sudanese military, and relations between Ethiopia and the Sudanese military have also been deteriorating,” Boswell said, adding that Ethiopia is also becoming increasingly involved in the civil war in Sudan, at least along its border. “So this is all turning into a big regional war. It’s a disaster, and it could get very, very ugly if we don’t see a reduction in tension.”
