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Tigray War

February 15, 2024

This article contains several patronymic names rather than family names. These persons are addressed by their given name, and not by their inherited name.
Tigray War
Part of the Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present)
A man passing by a destroyed T-72 tank in Idaga Hamus; destroyed building in Chifra; cemetery for victims of the Mai Kadra massacre; an IDP camp in Shire; a house destroyed during a battle to control Hawzen
Date3 November 2020[a] – 3 November 2022
(2 years)
Location
Tigray, Amhara, and Afar Regions of Ethiopia; Eritrea; Eritrea–Ethiopia border; Spillovers in Al Qadarif, Sudan
Result
Belligerents

 Ethiopia[1][2]

 Eritrea[3][4]
Arms suppliers:

UFEFCF (2021–22)[7][8]

Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength

c. 500,000 (Oct 2022)[24]

 250,000 (Oct 2022)[26]
Casualties and losses
 5,600 killed, 2,300 injured, 2,000 captured (Ethiopian military claim)[35]
Exact casualty figures are disputed
Total deaths:

The Tigray War[b] was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020[a] to 3 November 2022.[47][48] The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied to the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.[49][50]

After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when TPLF forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray.[51] The ENDF counterattacked from the south – while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north – which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as a "law enforcement operation".[52][53] Federal allied forces captured Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, on 28 November, after which Abiy declared the operation "over."[54][55] However, the TPLF stated soon afterwards that it would continue fighting until the "invaders" were out,[56][57] and on 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) retook Mekelle; by July the same year, they had also advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions.[58] In early November 2021, the TDF, together with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), took control of several towns on the highway south from Tigray Region towards Addis Ababa, and the TPLF stated that it considered "marching on [the capital]."[59][60] Together with seven smaller rebel groups, the TPLF and OLA declared a coalition aiming to "dismantle Abiy's government by force or by negotiations, and then form a transitional authority."[61]

After a successful government counter-offensive in response, and then a series of negotiations with the TPLF, Ethiopia declared an indefinite humanitarian truce on 24 March 2022, in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray.[62] However, fighting dramatically re-escalated in late August 2022, after peace talks broke down.[63] Rapid mobilization of troops soon followed, with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray reportedly organizing hundreds of thousands of troops against each other by October the same year.[24] After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November, which went into effect the day after;[48] Eritrea was not a party to the agreement, however,[64] and they largely continued to occupy parts of Tigray as of 2023.[65]

All sides, particularly the ENDF, EDF, Amhara forces and TDF, committed war crimes during the conflict.[66][67][68][69][70] Mass extrajudicial killings of civilians took place throughout, including in Axum,[71] Bora,[72] Chenna,[73][74] Kobo,[75][76] the Hitsats refugee camp,[77] Humera,[78] Mai Kadra,[70][79] the Debre Abbay monastery,[72][80] and Zalambessa.[81] Between 162,000 and 600,000 people were killed,[42][41] and war rape became a "daily" occurrence, with girls as young as 8 and women as old as 72 being raped, often in front of their families.[82][83] A major humanitarian crisis developed as a result of the war,[37] which led to widespread famine.[84][39] It also inflicted immense economic damage on the region, with the cost of rebuilding alone estimated to be roughly $20 billion.[85]

Background edit

Historical and political context edit

Further information: Eritrean–Ethiopian border conflict, 2014–2016 Oromo protests, and Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present)
See also: Eritrean involvement in the Tigray War

Following the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991, Ethiopia became a dominant-party state under the rule of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), a coalition of four ethnically based parties.[86] The founding and most influential member was the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), led by Meles Zenawi, who was the prime minister of Ethiopia until his death in 2012.[87][88] He was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, the chairman of the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), a coalition member.[89] On 15 February 2018, Hailemariam announced his resignation as both prime minister and chairman of the EPRDF, owing to a growing discontent within the public, fueled by a reaction to 27 years of repressive governance.[90][91][92]

On 28 March 2018, in a closed-door election to chair the EPRDF, executive committee members elected the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organisation (OPDO) chairman Abiy Ahmed.[93] On 2 April 2018, Ethiopian parliament elected Abiy as prime minister.[94] One of Abiy's first actions after his election was to initiate a warming of relations with Eritrea, a long-time rival of the TPLF, to end a 20-year long border conflict.[95] While this decision was considered a cause of celebration at the time,[96][97] many within the Tigray Region were heavily critical of this, seeing it as a betrayal of those who died in the 1998–2000 war.[98] The TPLF condemned the peace initiatives, saying they were hastily made, had "fundamental flaws", and also claimed it was decided on without consulting long-time TPLF members.[99]

On 1 December 2019, Abiy merged the ethnic and region-based parties of the EPRDF (which had governed Ethiopia for 28 years) and several opposition parties into his new Prosperity Party.[100][101] The TPLF, which had long dominated Ethiopian politics, refused to join this new party.[102][103] After losing the election and being ousted from the federal government, TPLF officials relocated to the Tigray Region, continuing to administer control there while frequently clashing with the federal government.[86][104] In one instance, the Tigray regional government was reported to have defied the federal government and refused to allow Ethiopian Federal Police to arrest Getachew Assefa, the former chief of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Ethiopia and executive member of the TPLF.[105]

The Ethiopian government and its supporters accused the TPLF of trying to re-establish their rule over the country through violence and force.[106] In turn, the TPLF accused the federal government of accumulating too much power for itself, and that it was engaging in ethnic discrimination of Tigrayans.[107][108]

Lead-up to the war edit

Further information: COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia and 2020 Tigray regional election

Throughout 2020, tensions between the federal government and the TPLF escalated in the months leading up to November.[103] In March, the National Election Board of Ethiopia delayed the general elections – originally scheduled for 29 August 2020 – to a then-undetermined date, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[109] The terms of federal and regional lawmakers, as well as the executive branch, were then extended by federal parliament beyond the October 2020 constitutional mandates.[110][111]

The TPLF, led by its chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, rejected these measures, arguing that they were unconstitutional, and held its own regional election on 9 September, in defiance of the federal government.[112][113][114] Several journalists were barred by the Ethiopian government from travelling to cover Tigray's regional election.[115][116] Ethiopia considered the Tigray election to be illegal, and responded by slashing federal funding to the region, a decision the TPLF described as "tantamount to declaration of war."[117][51]

 
People in Tigray registering to vote in the 2020 regional election during the COVID-19 pandemic. (August 2020)

In late September 2020, the TPLF stated that the constitutional term limit of the House of Federation, the House of Peoples' Representatives, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers was 5 October 2020 and that for this reason, it would consider "the incumbent" constitutionally illegitimate after 5 October; they proposed replacing the government with a technocratic caretaker government, as detailed in a plan posted on Facebook by the Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces.[118] Ethiopian elite units were transported to Gherghera base near Asmara, as part of an alleged pact between Prime Minister Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to "strike out of existence the TPLF," according to former Eritrean Minister of Defence Mesfin Hagos.[119]

In late October 2020, the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission stated that it was trying to mediate between the federal government and the TPLF, as well as the other regional governments, but that the pre-conditions set by all sides were blocking progress.[120] As tension continued to grow, a brigadier general appointed by Abiy was prevented by the Tigray government from taking up his military post.[121] The same day before the Tigray forces launched the Northern Command attacks, the federal parliament of Ethiopia had suggested designating the TPLF as a terrorist organization.[103]

Constitutional context edit

The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia states in Article 39.1, "Every Nation, Nationality, and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self-determination, including the right to secession." Article 62.9 grants the House of Federation the right to "order Federal intervention if any State [government], in violation of [the] Constitution, endangers the constitutional order."[122]

Course of the war edit

Main article: Timeline of the Tigray War

Initial fighting (3–28 November 2020) edit

Northern Command attacks
Main article: Northern Command attacks (Ethiopia)
 
A map showing the Ethiopian-allied forces' Tigray offensive, 4–28 November 2020.

Just before midnight on 3 November 2020, Tigray Special Forces and allied local militia attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Northern Command headquarters in Mekelle, the Fifth Battalion barracks in Dansha, and other Northern Command bases.[123][124][45][103] Several people were killed and the TPLF claimed the attack was carried out in self-defence[125][105] or preemptive self-defense.[51]

In retaliation,[126] an Ethiopian offensive was launched on 4 November, which was accompanied by the declaration of a state of emergency, the creation of the State of Emergency Inquiry Board[127] and a shutdown of government services in the Tigray Region.[128][129] During the subsequent days, skirmishes continued and the Ethiopian federal parliament declared the creation of an interim government for Tigray.[130] Ethiopian offensives in the north were accompanied with airstrikes and several towns and cities were retaken.[131]

Early massacres
Main articles: Mai Kadra massacre, Humera massacre (2020), and Battle of Humera
 
 
Funeral service for the victims of the Mai Kadra massacre (1); Reported conflict incidents in the first 7 months of the war, including battles, ambushes, airstrikes, drone attacks and shelling. (2)

On the night of 9 to 10 November 2020, 600 civilians, mostly Amharas and Welkait, were killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra with machetes and knives used by local militias and police loyal to the TPLF, according to preliminary investigations by Amnesty International and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission;[132][70] other refugees, interviewed by the Financial Times and Reuters, said it was the Amhara militia who were the perpetrators and Tigrayans who were the victims.[133][134] Two days later, refugees interviewed by the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The New York Times stated that Amhara militias, including Fano,[135][136] and the ENDF[78] carried out beatings and massacres of 92 Tigrayans in Humera.[137] Humera was shelled from the direction of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border for two days around 9–11 November. The ENDF gained control of the town one day later.[138] Within the same month, Amhara Region forces took over and occupied Western Tigray.[139][140]

Offensives of joint ENDF-Amhara Region-Eritrean forces into Tigray were facilitated by the intervention of "Pterosaurus" drones, launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab, Eritrea. The Chinese-made, armed drones bombed Tigrayan artillery and weapons depots.[141][142][c][143] In the late hours of 13 November 2020, Tigray forces fired a rocket towards the airports of Bahir Dar and Gondar in the Amhara Region.[144] On 14 November, Tigray forces launched rockets at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, but the missiles missed.[145] The Tigray government claimed these locations contained military terminals that served as bases to carry out airstrikes.[146]

Mekelle offensive
Main article: Mekelle offensive (2020)
 
The aftermath of an airstrike on Mekelle

From 17 to 19 November, Ethiopian forces captured the Raya district and the towns of Shire, Alamata, Adwa, and Axum,[147][148] and began moving towards Adigrat.[149] Fighting between Tigray and Eritrea took place in Adi Quala, Zalembesa, Taruna, Ali Tina, Wadqomdi, and Badme.[150] On 23 November, Ethiopian forces reached the regional capital of Mekelle and encircled it. A military spokesperson for Ethiopia, Colonel Dejene Tsegaye, announced that Mekelle would be shelled, and told Tigray civilians to flee the city because Ethiopian forces would show no mercy.[151][125]

Though TPLF leaders and special forces had already left the city, Ethiopian forces continued their direct assault on Mekelle on the morning of 28 November, and started heavily shelling the city. By the evening, Prime Minister Abiy declared Ethiopian forces had taken full control of the city. In total, 27 civilians were killed and 100 others were injured.[152][153] The Tigray government vowed to continue fighting.[56][154]

Tigrayan guerrilla warfare (November 2020 – June 2021) edit

Formation of the Tigray Defense Forces

After Ethiopian federal forces and their allies captured Mekelle and other major cities, forces loyal to the Tigray government began to regroup into mountainous areas of the region and reorganized under the banner of the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF).[155][51] This retreat was partially caused by the fact that a large portion of the TDF's artillery had been destroyed by air strikes.[156] The TDF also began to dig into their positions in rural Tigray,[157] marking the start of a guerrilla campaign against Ethiopian-allied forces from the mountains.[51]

Eritrean occupation of the northeast
 
Destroyed IFV in Axum, Tigray Region; June 2021

On 28 and 29 November, witnesses and survivors, including refugees in Sudan, reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) carried out the Axum massacre of about 720 to 800 civilians.[71][158][159][160] The Eritrean government stated that it was angered by Amnesty International's report on the massacre, calling it "transparently unprofessional" and "politically motivated" and accusing Amnesty of fabricating evidence.[161] However, refugees also spoke of the EDF killing 80–150 people in Idaga Hamus on 30 November, as part of a larger series of extrajudicial killings known as the Adigrat massacres.[162]

A witness told Al Jazeera that, on 4 December, Eritrean troops entered her town in southeastern Tigray and attempted to rape her; this statement is corroborated by other survivors and witnesses, who spoke of rampant sexual violence, massacres and destruction of civilian infrastructure committed by the EDF.[163] In February 2021, the UN chief coordinator of humanitarian efforts Mark Lowcock said that up to 40% of Tigray was not controlled by Ethiopian troops. Aside from Tigrayan rebel forces, he said that much of that area was under the control of the EDF, pursuing their own objectives independent of Ethiopian command.[164] By early March, residents said that the number of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray was in the thousands.[163]

Continued insurgency
 
The Tigray insurgency, 28 November 2020 – 18 June 2021

By mid-December, fighting had reached Hagere Selam, Samre, Dogu'a, Kolla Tembien, May Tsemre and localities around Maychew.[165] During this time, a violently enforced curfew was set up by Ethiopian forces along with Eritrean soldiers.[165] According to the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), in Wukro over 200 people were killed and the town was left deserted. The Ethiopian government denied involvement in the killing.[165]

On 9 January 2021, Ethiopian TV reported that 300 refugees in Hitsats camp were executed by the TPLF.[77] According to refugees, pro-TPLF forces used Hitsats as a base for several weeks in November 2020, killing several refugees who wanted to leave the camp to get food and, in one incident, killed nine young Eritrean men in revenge for having lost a battle against the EDF.[166] On 18 February, unidentified militiamen ambushed a passenger bus in Adi Mesino, killing six and injuring 10.[167]

Ultimately, the early gains made by the ENDF and EDF against Tigrayan forces did not lead to a decisive defeat of the re-organized and invigorated TDF.[168] In late January, the TDF had rallied and were intensifying their insurgency against Ethiopian forces despite the initial setbacks and heavy losses.[155] During this time fighting was reported to have taken place around Mekelle, and the ENDF had retreated from rural positions towards the city.[169] Several of these clashes took place in mid-February at Samre, a small town 45 km (28 mi) south-west of Mekelle. Thousands of Ethiopian troops supported by artillery, tanks, and airstrikes fought dug-in forces loyal to the Tigray regional government.[155]

According to a report by Ghent University, massacres of civilians continued into March, including around 250 in Humera over the course of three days by unconfirmed perpetrators, and 13 in Grizana by the EDF.[170] That same month, an undated video surfaced that purported to show Ethiopian troops executing 11 unarmed men before throwing their bodies off a cliff near Mahibere Dego.[171]

TDF regains territory
 
Estimated territorial control on 23 April 2021

Fighting intensified in early April;[155] by this point, the TDF was in control of the rural areas of central and southern Tigray along with parts of eastern and south-eastern Tigray, while the ENDF was in control of the main roads and urban areas. Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north, respectively. All sides wished to secure a military victory, but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term, and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict.[157] The Tigray Defense Forces were engaged in a war of attrition with popular support from the people of Tigray, who were infuriated by war crimes committed by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers and worried about a potential decrease in the region's autonomy.[172][51] This resulted in the TDF growing in strength and the concept of secession from Ethiopia gaining popularity in Tigray, a stance which was considered likely to inflame Amhara-Tigray territorial disputes.[157]

On 6 May, Ethiopia's House of Peoples' Representatives declared the TPLF as a terrorist organization.[173] On 21 May, Ethiopia's military prosecutors convicted 3 soldiers of rape, and pressed charges against more than 50 others suspected of killing or raping civilians in Tigray.[174]

Tigrayan counter-offensive (June – November 2021) edit

Retaking of Mekelle
Main article: Operation Alula
 
Abandoned school in Addilal, Dogu'a Tembien; partially destroyed from a bombing by the Ethiopian Air Force in June 2021.

On 22 June 2021, an Ethiopian military cargo plane was shot down over Samre, marking a turn of the war in the TDF's favor.[175] On 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces retook the city of Mekelle. People celebrated in the streets of Mekelle as the TDF took the city.[176][177] Ethiopian soldiers, police and administrators were seen leaving, ahead of the occupation by the TDF. Shortly after hearing news of the TDF advance, the Ethiopian government declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire across the Tigray Region.[178] BBC News reporter Vivienne Nunis characterised the ceasefire as an attempt by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to save face, the government having little other option.[179]

On 29 June, Tigrayan forces vowed to continue their offensive and drive into Eritrea or the Amhara Region if necessary, and said that Mekelle was 100% under the control of Tigrayan forces.[180] On 30 June 2021, the TDF had entered the town of Shire, some 140 kilometres (87 mi) northwest of Mekelle, after it had been abandoned by Eritrean troops. The International Crisis Group claimed that the TDF now controlled most of the Tigray region.[179] The Ethiopian government claimed, on 30 June, that it could re-enter Mekelle in less than three weeks if it wanted to. In the same announcement, the Ethiopian government stated that all Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region, though this was not confirmed by the Eritrean government.[181]

Tigrayan push in Afar and Amhara
 
A map showing the TDF's Gondar-Bahir Dar offensive, 6 July – 20 August 2021.

On 6 July 2021, the Tigrayan government mobilised to retake western Tigray from Amhara forces.[182] A TDF offensive starting on 12 July resulted in Tigrayan forces capturing southern Tigray, including the towns of Alamata and Korem.[183] The TDF subsequently crossed the Tekezé River and advanced westward, capturing the town of Mai Tsebri in the Tselemti district, and prompting Amhara officials to call on its militias to arm themselves and mobilise.[184] Following the TDF's rapid advances, Abiy threatened to resume war with Tigray and crush the rebels, raising fears of genocide.[185] He called on other regions of Ethiopia to mobilise their special forces. The Oromia, Sidama, and SNNPR regions answered the call and mobilised.[186]

From 17 to 19 July, the TDF began launching attacks in the Afar Region to its east, prompting the Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela, Harari and Somali regions to join the war.[187] Heavy fighting in western Afar displaced over 54,000 people, and resulted in the TDF reportedly capturing three districts in the region.[188]

While the Tigray government claimed it only entered Afar to target federal forces, experts believe their aim was to sever a portion of National Highway A1, a vital trade route for landlocked Ethiopia, linking the capital of Addis Ababa to the Port of Djibouti, from which most of its petroleum products are imported.[189][190] Following the TDF's counter-attack on two districts of his region, the Amhara regional President, Agegnehu Teshager, called for the total mobilisation of all people of all ages who are armed in the region to fight against the Tigrayans. A similar call was made in Afar.[191] Meanwhile, the city of Weldiya was captured by the TDF on 12 August 2021.[192]

On 4 August 2021, some Agew people declared themselves independent from the Amhara Region and formed the Agew Liberation Front (ALF).[193] The next day, Lalibela was reported to have been seized by Tigrayan forces.[194][195] On 9 August, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore expressed concern about reports that over 200 people, including 100 children, had been killed in attacks on displaced families sheltering at a health facility and a school in the Afar Region.[196] On 11 August, the TDF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) announced an alliance to overthrow Abiy Ahmed's government, saying they were also in talks with other rebel groups to establish a "grand coalition".[197] With the TDF advancing deeper into Amhara, various cities across the region began enforcing curfews.[198]

On 9 September 2021, the Ethiopian government claimed Tigrayan forces had been "routed" and heavily defeated in the Afar Region. TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said its forces had seen no fighting in Afar and had redeployed to the adjoining Amhara Region.[199] On 30 September, amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray, the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials, reportedly because of "meddling" in its internal affairs, giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country.[200][201]

October 2021 government-allied offensive
 
Conflict incidents reported between November 2020 and December 2021

On 8 October 2021, Getachew said that an intensive air campaign by the Ethiopian Air Force began against TDF positions in the North Wollo and North Gondar zones of the Amhara Region, mostly around the towns of Wegeltena, Wurgessa and Haro.[202] He also stated there was a "massive build up of forces on all fronts."[202] The federal government and Amhara regional government did not respond to the claim.[202] On 11 October, Ethiopian-allied forces launched coordinated ground attacks "on all fronts" against the TDF with combined arms including tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, warplanes, and drones according to the Tigrayan government.[203][204] General Tsadkan Gebretensae, member of the central command of the TDF said both sides had been preparing for the offensive for months, and predicted that battle would be "decisive".[156]

The new offensive effectively ended the unilateral ceasefire declared by the federal government in June[205] and further deepened fears of the developing famine in Tigray, with a federal government blockade still preventing most aid from arriving.[156] Meanwhile, the continued war prompted regional leaders, including Kenyan President Kenyatta, to voice their concerns and urge peace, while US Secretary of State Blinken met with the AU envoy to Ethiopia, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, to discuss the crisis.[156]

On 13 October, Getachew claimed fighting continued intensifying with "staggering" casualties. He also claimed clashes were taking place near Weldiya and that fighting had resumed in Afar, within the Awra and Chifra districts near the Amhara border.[206][207] A humanitarian worker citing witnesses said the EDF were fighting the TDF in Berhale, a town in Afar 71 kilometres (44 mi) northeast of Mekelle.[207]

TDF-OLA joint offensive (October – December 2021) edit

Main article: TDF–OLA joint offensive
Further information: OLA insurgency
Fall of Dessie and Kombolcha
 
A map showing the TDF–OLA joint offensive, 16 October – 1 December 2021.

On 30 October, it was reported that Dessie had fallen to the TDF. However, control over the city was not immediately certain, with the federal government denying its capture and reports of fierce fighting coming from the town.[208] On 31 October, the TDF claimed to have captured Kombolcha, a town 21 km (13 mi) east of Dessie, and the Ethiopian government accused the TDF of massacring over 100 youths in the town.[209] On the same day, the Amhara regional government declared a state of emergency, which included a region-wide curfew.[210]

South of Kombolcha, the OLA claimed to have seized control over Kemise on the A2 Highway which links Mekelle to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa,[59] and later declared they were considering an offensive towards the capital.[60] The TDF claimed they also linked up with the OLA.[211] Meanwhile, it was reported that a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans had occurred in Addis Ababa.[211]

State of emergency and rebel coalition
Further information: 2021–2022 Ethiopian state of emergency

On 2 November 2021, as the counter-offensive came deeper into federal-controlled territory, the Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency, which envisages the possibility to arrest and detain critics of the government without a court warrant, impose curfews, institute censorship, restrict freedom of movement as well as to call any adult person to fight in the war, for fear of serving from three to ten years in prison.[212][213] Authorities in Addis Ababa also told residents to register their weapons in order to fend off the anticipated offensive. Four other regional governments also made a call to arms.[214][60] On 5 November, the TPLF, OLA and other rebel groups declared the creation of a nine-group coalition, called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces.[215]

On 22 November, Prime Minister Abiy stated that he will be leading the fight against the rebels from the battlefront after the TDF claimed to have captured Shewa Robit,[216][217] saying; "We are now in the final stages of saving Ethiopia."[218] Many countries also urged citizens to leave the country.[218]

Government-allied counter-offensive (November 2021 – March 2022) edit

Main article: ENDF National Unity Offensive
 
A map showing the ENDF's National Unity offensive, 26 November – 23 December 2021.

From 26 November to 6 December 2021, Ethiopian allied forces recaptured several towns in the Amhara and Afar regions including Lalibela and Shewa Robit, according to the Ethiopian government.[219][220][221][222] On 6 December, government forces claimed to have recaptured the strategic cities of Dessie and Kombolcha.[223] This was later confirmed by TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda; however, he claimed this was a strategic withdrawal, which was "part of their plan".[224] On 12 December, Reuters reported that forces loyal to the TPLF had recaptured the town of Lalibela less than two weeks after government forces and their allies had recaptured control of the town for themselves.[225] Nevertheless, by the end of the month, the federal government had successfully repelled the incursion towards Addis Ababa,[226][227] and Tigrayan forces were pushed back to Tigray.[228]

Fighting slows down

On 20 December 2021, the TPLF announced they had withdrawn their troops from Amhara and Afar, saying they were hoping to create, as stated by TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, "a decisive opening for peace". Debretsion also requested the establishment of a no-fly zone over Tigray, as well as a weapons embargo against Ethiopia and Eritrea.[229][230] Following these developments, the ENDF stated that it would not advance any deeper into the Tigray region.[231] However, in January 2022, the Ethiopian Air Force began launching a bombing campaign in the Tigray Region, killing 108 people, including at least 56 from an airstrike targeting an IDP camp in Dedebit.[232][233]

On 7 January – the same day as the Dedebit airstrike – Ethiopia released a number of opposition leaders from prison, including some from the TPLF, and said they desired to have a dialogue with the Tigrayan leadership.[234] On 26 January, the Ethiopian council of ministers also proposed to end the state of emergency.[235]

Ceasefire period (March – August 2022) edit

Further information: Tigrayan peace process § Ceasefire period (March–August 2022)

On 24 March 2022, the Ethiopian government declared an indefinite humanitarian truce, in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray.[62] During the ceasefire, both Ethiopia and the TPLF agreed to have talks about an official end to the war. A number of outstanding issues – in particular, the presence of pro-government troops in Tigray's Western Zone and restoring access to basic public service to Tigray – were topics of discussion throughout.[236][237] Though there were initial hopes of finding a peaceful solution to ending the war, the talks soon became characterized by steadily increasing hostilities between the negotiation parties.[238] By August, talks started to break down, with both the Ethiopian government and the TPLF accusing each other of refusing to make peace.[239][240]

Resurgence of fighting (August – November 2022) edit

 
Playground in Mekelle destroyed by an airstrike (26 August 2022)

In late August 2022, after months of ceasefire, fighting resumed. Both sides blamed each other for initiating the fighting, and both also expressed frustration "for a lack of progress towards negotiations to end the 21-month conflict."[63] The fighting itself concentrated in the border area connecting Tigray, Amhara and Afar. Allegations emerged that the Tigray were smuggling in weapons, leading to the Ethiopian Air Force shooting down a plane, claiming it was carrying weapons for the TPLF; meanwhile, the government was accused of indiscriminate air bombardments on civilian targets.[241] Civilians reported that pro-government militias, such as Fano, had gotten involved as well.[242] Exacerbating tensions were severe food shortages, an issue that remained unsolved have particularly affected the Tigray region.[243][242][244]

Joint Eritrean–Ethiopian offensive
 
A map showing the Ethiopian-allied forces' Tigray offensive, 1 September – 3 November 2022.

On 27 August, the TDF captured the town of Kobo, following the ENDF's withdrawal.[245] Ethiopia and Eritrea subsequently announced an offensive in North Tigray on 1 September.[246] On 13 September 2022, the TPLF said Eritrea had taken Sheraro.[247] The town's capture by Eritrea and the fighting in nearby areas displaced around 210,000 people, most of whom fled to the city of Shire.[248] A day later Ethiopian airstrikes on Mekelle killed at least ten people.[249] By mid-September, reports emerged of Eritrea engaging in mass mobilization of the country's reservists to be sent to Tigray.[250]

 
Aftermath of a drone attack on the Adi Haqi campus of Mekelle University (13 September 2022)

On 20 September, the government of Tigray said Eritrea had invaded the region, and that heavy fighting was taking place across northern Tigray.[251][252][253] The TDF had, thus far, largely resisted the offensive, and reportedly launched a counterattack to retake Sheraro. Meanwhile, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces began massing in Abala and Berhale in the Afar Region, within striking distance of Mekelle.[254] On 27 September, an airstrike – allegedly carried out by Eritrea – struck the northern town of Adi Dairo while it was celebrating Meskel, killing at least six civilians and injured 19 more.[255] On 2 October, the TPLF announced it had withdrawn troops from Amhara's North Wollo Zone, including Kobo, to be redeployed north to reinforce lines under heavy Eritrean attack but warned it would return if their southern border is threatened.[256] Three days later, a second airstrike hit Adi Dairo, killing between 50 and 65 people according to aid workers in the town.[257]

Full-scale mobilization
Further information: Battle of Shire (2022)

On 10 October, the TPLF claimed that Eritrea was escalating its offensive, sending more forces towards Rama, Tserona, and Zalambessa in the far north, with one aid worker saying it is the heaviest fighting since hostilities resumed.[258] Later reports confirmed that Eritrea was intensifying its efforts to mobilize more troops for the war; it detained "elderly mothers and fathers", and sought draft-dodgers.[259] Tigray mobilized its citizens too, calling on every able-bodied person to join the fight.[260] Amidst the three-front offensive launched by Ethiopia and Eritrea, estimates put the number of Ethiopian casualties at over 90,000 in a single month, while Tigrayan casualties were also deemed incredibly high.[261] According to peace and conflict studies researcher Kjetil Tronvoll, it is likely that 100,000 people had been killed over the preceding few weeks, and alleged that Eritrea and Ethiopia were using human wave attacks to overwhelm Tigrayan defenses.[262]

On 17 October, Ethiopia said that it would seize every airport and other key infrastructure in the region;[263] that same day, the strategic city of Shire was taken by Eritrea and Ethiopia, leading to the evacuation of thousands of its inhabitants.[264][265] Ethiopian forces then took Alamata and Korem in the south.[266] By 22 October, ENDF and EDF-allied forces had also captured Adwa and Axum, even as peace talks with the TPLF were about to commence in South Africa.[267][268][269] Witnesses from a number of towns told the Associated Press that Eritrean forces were regularly killing civilians between 23 and 29 October.[270]

Second ceasefire (November 2022) edit

Main article: Ethiopia–Tigray peace agreement

On 25 October 2022, AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki, announced that peace talks involving the Ethiopian government and the TPLF had commenced in Pretoria, South Africa.[107][271] Hopes that these talks could definitively stop the war, however, remained low, as fighting did not appear to slow down, and Ethiopia vocalized their distrust about the peace process.[108][272] Still, negotiations continued onward, and on 2 November, Ethiopia and the TPLF announced that they had signed an agreement for a cessation of hostilities (made effective the next day on 3 November, marking the two-year anniversary of the war);[48] however, Eritrea and other warring parties were not involved in the agreement, leaving their status ambiguous.[64] On 12 November, both parties signed a deal to allow humanitarian aid into Tigray.[273] By 29 December, federal police were reported to have returned to Tigray,[274] while flights and internet access had also been restored.[275]

Despite important steps towards peace and deescalation being made between the government and the TPLF, Amhara and Eritrean forces continued to launch attacks on Tigrayans in the months after the agreement was signed.[276][277][278]

Spillover edit

Main article: Spillover of the Tigray War

The intensity of the war led to spillover effects on the surrounding countries in the region, particularly in Sudan.[279][280]

Sudan edit

Main article: Al-Fashaga conflict
 
Map showing refugee camp locations. Thousands of people fled across the Ethiopia–Sudan border.

By the end of November 2020, around 44,000 people fled to Sudan. On 15 December 2020, four Sudanese soldiers were killed, and 27 others were injured near the Ethiopia–Sudan border,[281] in what Sudan claimed to be an ambush by Ethiopian forces and Amhara militias. Ethiopia claimed they were trying to stop a Sudanese militia from seizing farmlands on Ethiopian territory. In response to the killings, Sudan started to build up its military along the border with Ethiopia.[282][283][284]

Al-Shabaab invasion edit

Main article: 2022 al-Shabaab invasion of Ethiopia

In late July 2022, the Islamist militant group al-Shabaab launched a coordinated invasion of Ethiopia from Somalia.[285] Multiple observers, including political analyst Matthew Bryden and CNRS researcher Roland Marchal, have speculated that the political instability caused by the Tigray War, the perceived weakening of the Ethiopian state, and the movement of federal troops away from Somalia and towards Tigray, gave al-Shabaab an "opportune time" to launch an offensive.[286][287][288]

International involvement edit

Further information: Eritrean involvement in the Tigray War
 
A Chinese-built Type 89 AFV, destroyed by fighting in Hawzen

Since the war began, both regional and international powers have been actively involved in the conflict. A number of reports have been made alleging that China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were all providing military support for the Ethiopian government via the sale of weaponized drones.[289][290][291][292] As early as December 2020, there were unconfirmed rumors that Emirati drones were being stationed in the Eritrean port city of Assab.[293] The victory of Ethiopian forces over Dessie and Kombolcha in December 2021 was partly attributed to the drones supplied by Ethiopia's allies.[294][295] In Debretsion Gebremichael's order to withdraw all his forces from Tigray borders in December 2021, he mentioned "the drones provided by foreign powers" as a major factor that prompted his decision.[291]

Alleged Somali involvement edit

There have been multiple unconfirmed reports of Somali troops being sent from a secret training base in Eritrea run by the National Intelligence and Security Agency to fight against the newly formed TDF.[154] The first of these reports came in January 2021 from unverified social media accounts.[162] The same month, Somalia's information minister, Osman Abukar Dubbe, confirmed Somali soldiers were training in Eritrea, but denied any of these troops had been sent to Tigray. According to the Voice of America, several sources with direct knowledge of the program, including three Somali officials and a foreign diplomat, confirmed to them that Somali troops have been training in neighbouring Eritrea.[162] In January 2022, The Globe and Mail reported evidence of Somali troops were involved and they had committed atrocities in Tigray. The report noted that before the war began, Somali forces under the leadership of the Eritrean Army had been stationed in trenches along the border.[296]

A small group of parents also protested in Mogadishu about what they said was the government's mismanagement of the issue. They demanded information on their loved ones who they say they haven't seen in a year.[162][154] The head of Somalia's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs asked the Somali president to investigate claims by family members that their sons had gone off to fight in Ethiopia and are now missing.[297] On 19 January 2021, the Somali government denied the claim that Somali troops had trained in Eritrea and then deployed in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia.[298][299]

Former head of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, Abdilsalan Guld,[300] claimed that Somali troops were sent to Tigray. Guld stated that the soldiers, aged from 20 to 30 years old, were secretly taken from Mogadishu and sent to Asmara for military training. Guld stated that 370 of the Somali troops trained by Eritrea were killed in Tigray, and hundreds of others were wounded.[301][299]

Casualties and human rights violations edit

Main articles: Casualties of the Tigray War and War crimes in the Tigray War
 
A mass grave of civilian victims in Hawzen, Tigray.[302][303]

As of May 2023, the combined impact of wartime violence, famine and a lack of medical access had killed an estimated 162,000-378,000 people,[42][41] with other reported estimates reaching numbers as high as 600,000 killed.[304] All sides in the conflict have been accused of committing war crimes and violating international human rights law,[66][305] with evidence of unlawful killings, torture and sexual violence being widely reported.[306][307][308]

Crimes against humanity and genocide allegations edit

Main article: War crimes in the Tigray War § Crimes against humanity
See also: Predictions of a genocide in Ethiopia

Many sources have accused the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments of engaging in crimes against humanity via ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans.[309][310][311] The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have also been accused of genocide.[312][313][314][315] According to the EU's special envoy to Ethiopia, Pekka Haavisto, senior members of the Ethiopian government called for "wip[ing] out" all Tigrayans for 100 years.[316][317][318] The Ethiopian Government denied the allegations.[319]

On 4 June 2021, the non-profit Genocide Watch classified the events in Tigray as step 9 of genocide (eradication), as well as step 10 (denial).[320] They issued another emergency alert on 20 November 2021, stating that "both sides are committing genocide", referring to detentions of thousands of people based on Oromo or Tigrayan ethnic identity, and arguing that "Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's hate speech and calls for war" together with attacks by the ENDF and TPLF put Ethiopia into stages 4 (dehumanization), 6 (polarization), 8 (persecution), and 9 (extermination) of the ten stages of genocide.[321]

Ethnic profiling of Tigrayans edit

Main article: Ethnic discrimination in Ethiopia § Tigray War

Ethnic profiling against Tigrayans occurred during the Tigray War, with Ethiopians of Tigrayan ethnicity being put on indefinite leave from Ethiopian Airlines or refused permission to board,[322] prevented from overseas travel,[323] and an "order of identifying ethnic Tigrayans from all government agencies and NGOs" being used by federal police to request a list of ethnic Tigrayans from an office of the World Food Programme.[324] Tigrayans' houses were arbitrarily searched and Tigrayans' bank accounts suspended.[323] During the conflict, many Tigrayans were profiled both professionally and socially, with many fired or called names when out in public as a result of the conflict, such as Tigrayan military members having their weapons confiscated or dismissed from duty.[325] A hotspot for this form of profiling took place in Addis Ababa, including disappearances of major Ethiopian officials and arrests of Tigrayans on the grounds that they supported the TPLF, which was designated as a terrorist organisation in May 2021 by Ethiopian parliament.[326]

Ethnic Tigrayan members of Ethiopian components of United Nations peacekeeping missions were disarmed and some forcibly flown back to Ethiopia, at the risk of torture or execution, according to United Nations officials. The State of Emergency Taskforce stated that the Tigrayan peacekeepers were returned to Ethiopia because of "infiltration of TPLF elements in various entities."[327][328] On 1 November 2021, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that "we should closely follow those who work for the enemy and live amongst us," as reports of a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans came out of Addis Ababa.[211]

Sexual violence edit

Main article: Sexual violence in the Tigray War
See also: Hawzen in the Tigray War
 
Protest against rape and sexual violence in Tigray

Wartime rape and sexual violence was also widespread, being perpetrated by virtually all sides.[329][330] There were "deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender-based violence, extrajudicial killings, [and the] widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties" according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. More than 136 cases of rape were reported in hospitals in Mekelle, Ayder, Adigrat and Wukro in eastern Tigray between December 2020 and January 2021, with indications that there are many more such unreported cases.[331] As of August 2021, there were 512 to 514 rape victims registered with Ethiopian hospitals;[332][333] however, the real number is probably much larger than that and can be as large as 120,000 by some estimations,[334] and many sources believe the sexual violence in Tigray was intentionally committed with the purpose of destroying the morale of the enemy, to genocide and genetically cleanse certain populations, and to spread STIs as a form of biological warfare.[335][329][333][336]

Often, soldiers, and militias subjected Tigrayan women and girls, including pregnant women and young girls, to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual torture.[337][338] Such sexual violence is often accompanied with other forms of physical and mental abuse, including burning their victims with hot iron or cigarettes, forcing metal rods or nails into their victim's genitals,[338][329] raping their victim in front of their family members, forcing their victims to rape their family members, calling their victims by derogatory words and ethnic slurs, etc.[339][338] There were also reports that Tigrayan forces had gang-raped dozens of women and underage girls in at least two towns in the Amhara Region,[340] and girls – some as young as 14 – were identified as victims of rape in the towns of Chenna and Kobo in August and September 2021.[341][342][343]

After being subjected to sexual violence, many women become infected with STIs like HIV, who face difficulty getting treatment due to a sense of shame, as well as the collapse of medical infrastructure caused by the war.[337]

Investigations edit

Investigations into the war crimes include the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) joint investigation,[344] and the ACHPR Tigray investigation by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR).[345][346]

Humanitarian crisis edit

 
Distribution of internally displaced persons in Tigray (August 2021)

In February 2021, GOAL Ethiopia, the International Rescue Committee (IRC), MCMDO, MSF-Spain, and World Vision, found that nearly one in seven children in 16 woredas and town administrations across Tigray were acutely malnourished. While in Enderta, Abi Adi and Shire, GOAL and IRC reported that 16.6% of children screened had acute malnutrition with 3.5% suffering from severe acute malnutrition.[347]

There was limited access to clean water due to hygiene and sanitation services largely being disrupted across Tigray. The Tigray Regional Water Bureau reported that out of 36 villages it assessed, only 4 had partially functioning water sources. Along with that, an estimated 250 motorized water pumping systems have been out of order, and the status of 11,000 hand pumps in rural areas was unknown. Because of this, there was a heightened risk of outbreaks of waterborne diseases and COVID-19.[347]

 
Aid workers providing shelter kits in Tigray, wearing masks to protect themselves from COVID-19. (March 2021)

According to the UN, in March 2021, out of more than 260 health centres in Tigray before the war, only 31 were fully functional, while 7 were partially functional. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), all of the functioning hospitals and health centres in Tigray had a lack of medical supplies, drugs, and equipment. UN partners reported continued looting of health facilities. Only 16% of the health facilities had vaccination services and only 17% had maternal services (antenatal care, birth delivery, etc.).[348]

In late October 2022, it was revealed that the Tigray Region was running out of medical supplies, with the CEO of their largest hospital saying it was "doomed to collapse soon".[349][350] WHO officials stated that childhood vaccination rates had plummeted from 90% (before the war) to under 10%.[351]

Humanitarian aid edit

Further information: Famine in northern Ethiopia (2020–present)
 
The percentage of people in need reached with food aid as of 31 May 2021. White=0% and Black=100%

According to the United Nations (UN), some 2.3 million children have been cut off from desperately needed aid and humanitarian assistance. Since the start of the conflict, the Ethiopian federal government has strictly controlled access to the Tigray Region, and the UN has said it is frustrated that talks with the Ethiopian government had not yet secured adequate humanitarian access for "food, including ready-to-use therapeutic food for the treatment of child malnutrition, medicines, water, fuel, and other essentials that are running low" said UNICEF.[352][353][354][355][356] By 13 March 2021, the UN and its partners reached about 900,000 people with complete food baskets, and 700,000 people with clean water. Despite the progress made, many are still hard to reach due to ongoing fighting. About 4.5 million people of are still in need of aid and about 1 million of that are not in accessible areas due to ongoing fighting.[348]

On 31 August 2021, USAID's mission director in Ethiopia, Sean Jones said: "We do have proof that several of our warehouses have been looted and completely emptied in the areas, particularly in Amhara, where TPLF soldiers have gone into, I do believe that the TPLF has been very opportunistic," in a televised interview with state broadcaster EBC in Addis Ababa.[357][358] All parties to the conflict have been accused by USAID of looting aid shipments.[357]

By the summer of 2022, the government blockade of essential services to Tigray was still in place, and the humanitarian situation remained severe, with roughly 13 million people being in need of food aid.[359] According to the World Food Programme, while international aid had technically been allowed into the region during the 2022 ceasefire, in practice, very little aid was reaching the people that needed it most, largely due to fuel not being made available in these area.[360][243] On 25 August (one day after the war resumed), the WFP accused the TPLF of stealing 570,000 liters of fuel meant to transport humanitarian aid.[361][362] On 29 October the same year, UNICEF reported that around 29.7 million people in Ethiopia were in need of humanitarian assistance.[37]

Internal and forced displacement edit

See also: Shire in the Tigray War and Hamdayet Border Reception Centre
 
Family in a crowded IDP camp in Shire, Tigray (June 2021)[363]
 
IDP camp in Soqota, Amhara (May 2022)

In December 2020, the UN estimated more than one million people had been internally displaced by the fighting.[364] More than 50,000 people have fled to Sudan due to the conflict.[365][323] Communications and travel links were still blocked, and Human Rights Watch warned that "actions that deliberately impede relief supplies" would violate international humanitarian law.[364] Possible COVID-19 outbreaks were feared as refugees fleeing the Tigray conflict sheltered in crowded camps.[366] By March 2021, Shire had become a major centre for internally displaced people and humanitarian aid distribution.[367]

In September 2021, the humanitarian situation continued to worsen in Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions, due both to the armed conflict itself and due to bureaucratic obstruction. Two thousand displaced people returned to the Fantí Rasu zone in Afar Region after the ENDF and Afar Special Forces regained control and OCHA partner organisations' access to improved.[368]

UNICEF stated that by the end of September 2022, around 574,000 more people in Afar, Amhara and Tigray were left displaced after fighting resumed in August 2022; they also reported that over 870,000 had become refugees.[37][369]

Western Zone of Tigray edit

 
Internal migration due to the Tigray War; red is a decrease in population while green is an increase
Main article: War crimes in the Tigray War § Ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans in the Western Zone

In November 2020, Amhara Region Special Forces[370] and Amhara militias loyal to the Amhara regional government[51] took control of the western zone of Tigray in order to settle a decades-old land dispute. They claim the area was taken from them by force in 1992 after TPLF forces overthrew the communist PDRE government and divided the country into ethnic regional states. They have also claimed the woredas (districts) of Welkait, Tegede, Kafta Humera, Tselemti, and Raya to be theirs.[371]

Since then, the area has been under the de facto control of Amhara regional authorities. Their control has been marked by reports of ethnically motivated violence and forced displacement. By February 2021, about 45,000 civilians had been forced to leave the zone due to extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and the disappearances of people, especially young men.[370] One refugee interviewed by Reuters said that if they didn't leave when they did, they would have been killed by Amhara forces. 41 other refugees interviewed have also described attacks, looting, and threats by Amhara forces.[68]

In March 2021, Mulu Nega, then leader of the federal-government-appointed Transitional Government of Tigray,[372] stated that Amhara de facto administrators of Western Tigray used violence against ethnic Tigrayans and forcibly displaced them.[68] Yabsira Eshetie, the administrator of the area, denied the claims. The Amhara government also denied the reports of forced displacement and asked the Ethiopian government to modify the border between the Amhara and Tigray regions. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that there had been acts of ethnic cleansing in Tigray.[68]

Refugees in Sudan edit

Further information: Ethiopian refugees in Sudan
 
Ethiopian refugee camp in Sudan

Some Tigrayans who fled to Sudan as refugees would later find themselves victimized again by human traffickers upon arrival. Many refugees had testified being kidnapped, regularly tortured, and transported to warehouses in Libya, where many would die due to poor living conditions.[373] Eritrean refugees faced similar risks, as, in addition to the traffickers, they also risked getting kidnapped by the Eritrean government.[374] This situation worsened further after Sudan descended into violence in 2023, placing refugees at further risk of being kidnapped.[373][375]

Eritrean refugees edit

Further information: Refoulement of Eritrean refugees during the Tigray War

In November 2020, the UN warned of "very critical" supply shortages for the nearly 100,000 Eritrean refugees who, prior to the war, were registered in four camps in Tigray region.[364][376] Later that same month, the UN reported that people in Tigray were fleeing Mekelle. The federal government had warned of "no mercy" if Tigray forces and residents remained intermingled.[364][377] As of 2 February 2021, 20,000 of the Eritrean refugees in Tigray, mostly from the Hitsats and Shimelba camps, remained unaccounted for, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[378]

Internet and media edit

Role of online social networks edit

Main article: Mass media in Ethiopia

Claire Wilmot, writing in The Washington Post, found that a significant number of new, single-issue Twitter accounts were opened in the immediate aftermath of the Northern Command attacks. Most appeared to be authentic accounts from people seeking to raise international awareness of the conflict in the midst of a communications blackout in Tigray.[379] The Ethiopian government cited disinformation and hate speech to justify communications blackouts. Researchers suggested that reducing access to information could help to create contexts where misinformation can thrive because it reduces the ability to verify information.[379][380] In late July 2021, a report emerged that there was coordination in social media messaging and media reportage of the conflict in Ethiopia, to an extent it mirrored an earlier Syrian hybrid information campaign designated as Project Basma.[381]

The Ethiopian government tried to control the information environment by positioning itself as the sole provider of reliable information.[380] In February, pro-government groups called on their supporters in Ethiopia and the diaspora to combat what they called "TPLF fake news" online.[382] Pro-government groups used tactics similar to those of pro-Tigray groups to push their narrative of the conflict, though as of 5 February, pro-government campaigns had produced fewer Tweets overall.[380] Both Agence France-Presse and BBC News have documented examples of old or manipulated photos, which misleadingly endorsed either the federal Ethiopian government or the TPLF.[383][384]

Researchers found that groups use tactics such as "copy and paste" campaigns hosted on websites, which include instructions for opening new accounts, copying and pasting pre-written tweets, and tagging influencers. Both campaigns produced disinformation and misinformation, though the majority of content produced was activist in nature.[380] Wilmot suggested that the lines between authentic political activity and deliberate manipulation of online content during the conflict were increasingly blurred.[379]

Facebook edit

See also: Facebook content management controversies

Facebook has been heavily criticized for its perceived role in fuelling ethnic tensions during the war, and has faced accusations that, in choosing not to crack down on hate speech being spread by Ethiopian users, it is complicit in cases of ethnic cleansing in the country.[385][386][387][388][389]

Restriction of media coverage edit

Further information: Democratic backsliding in Ethiopia and Internet in Ethiopia

The Ethiopian government had engaged in repeated crackdowns on media coverage throughout the war.[390] In November 2021 (during the 2021–2022 state of emergency), the Ethiopian Media Authority (EMA) threatened to cancel the media licences of BBC News, Reuters, CNN and Associated Press, accusing the news organisations of having "consistently disseminated news that sowed seeds of animosity among people and compromised the sovereignty of the country." The EMA cited "reporting the Law enforcement operation as a genocidal campaign" as an example of misleading information aiming to "undermin[e] the [federal] government's efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region."[391]

On 20 May 2022, Ethiopian law enforcement began arresting journalists en masse, with 4,500 people in the Amhara Region alone being taken into custody. One Amhara law enforcement official described this as a way to maintain "law and order" and "get rid of outside enemies".[392]

The media restrictions resulted in what has been described as an "information blackout".[393] Many journalists, both local and international, have noted the difficulty they face in trying to report on the war, as they risk the possibility of getting either killed or imprisoned by government forces.[394][395] By December 2021, the Committee to Protect Journalists described both Ethiopia and Eritrea as the worst "jailers of journalists" in sub-Saharan Africa.[396]

Peace process edit

Main article: Tigrayan peace process

Several proposals for peace negotiations and mediation were made involving some of the main groups involved in the war. Of these, this includes: an emergency Intergovernmental Authority on Development summit in December 2020;[397] a joint statement by the National Congress of Great Tigray, the Tigray Independence Party, and Salsay Weyane Tigray describing their eight pre-conditions for peace in February 2021;[398] a mediation group called "A3+1", (consisting of three African countries, Kenya, Niger and Tunisia, and one non-African country, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) in July–August 2021;[399] and a March–August 2022 ceasefire wherein Ethiopian and Tigrayan officials attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict.[238]

On 2 November 2022, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace accord, with the African Union as a mediator, and agreed on "orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament".[400][401] The agreement was made effective the next day on 3 November, marking the two-year anniversary of the war.[48]

As part of this process, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed TPLF's Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray, and the Ethiopian parliament removed the TPLF from its terrorism list.[402]

Reactions edit

Main article: Reactions to the Tigray War

The Tigray War has been the subject of numerous reactions and protests, both locally[403] and worldwide.[404][405][406]

Aftermath edit

Health impacts edit

 
A wounded child at Ayder Hospital in Mekelle, Tigray.

The war had a devastating impact on the healthcare system of Tigray; of the 853 health facilities in the region, 86% were at least partially damaged; 232 of them were left "completely unusable", and 28 were destroyed entirely.[407]

It also led to a higher rate of maternal and infant mortality in the Tigray Region. In a study funded by UNFPA Ethiopia and UNICEF Ethiopia, it was estimated that maternal mortality rates had increased from 186 deaths per 100,000 people pre-war to 840 deaths per 100,000 people post-war.[408] A health coordinator at the Tigray Health Bureau said to Addis Standard in June 2023, that, according to their research, both maternal and infant mortality rates had regressed to the levels they were at in 2001.[409]

According to Tigrayan health official Tsegay Gidey, 81% of mothers in the Seharti Samre woreda had birth defects, and 32 newborn infants had died between January–June 2023.[409]

Economic impact edit

The war had a costly impact on the Ethiopian economy. In late November 2022, the cost of rebuilding was estimated to be around $20 billion.[85][410] The cost of rebuilding healthcare facilities in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions was at least $1.4 billion, being devastated by the war.[411] Between June 2022 and March 2023, government debt had increased by 6%, reaching a debt total of roughly $60.6 billion (3.3 trillion birr).[412]

The Tigray War also damaged the country's relationship with foreign creditors.[412] Shortly after it began in November 2020, the European Union suspended budget support to Ethiopia (citing reports of human rights abuses), a decision they would maintain until the end of the war.[413][414] The credit agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Ethiopia's credit rating in January 2023, expressing lower confidence that the Ethiopian government would be able to pay off their external debt.[415]

Inflation hit the country hard in the months following the war. Ethiopia had an average inflation rate of 30% in 2022, largely driven by food prices;[416] in February 2023, the overall inflation rate reached 32%;[417] by 12 September 2023 (Enkutatash), Ethiopia continued to experience high inflation, with commonly purchased food items becoming more expensive.[418] Although the war has not been considered the sole reason for these economic struggles, it has still been described as a contributing factor.[416][418]

Continued Eritrean occupation edit

Although the war largely came to a halt after the peace agreement was signed, Eritrea continues to occupy parts of Tigray as of mid-2023.[65] The EDF has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia since November 2022; from 17 to 25 November alone, Eritrea was reported to have destroyed 241 houses and killed at least 111 people.[419] by 30 December, it was estimated that Eritrean and Amhara forces killed 3,700 since the signing of the peace deal.[420]

The Tigray Health Bureau noted that 852 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported between November and December 2022; according to aid workers and interviews with survivors, most of these were committed by Eritrean forces.[421]

As of January 2023, over half of Irob district was occupied by Eritrea.[420] Irob advocacy groups and former residents have described it as a "de-facto annexation" of the area.[65] A religious Irob leader told The Guardian in August 2023 that Eritrea was blocking off international aid to the area, and lamented that "there has been no improvement for us since the peace."[65]

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b Some articles state that the war began on 4 November;[43] however, the earliest instances of fighting are reported to have taken place during the very late hours of 3 November, EAT (UTC+03:00).[44][45][46]
  2. ^ Tigrinya: ኲናት ትግራይ, romanized: Quinat Tĭgray; Amharic: ትግራይ ጦርነት, romanized: Tigrāy t'Orinet; Afar: Tigray Qeebi.
  3. ^ A few EEPA articles begin with the following injunction: "Unconfirmed report".

References edit

  1. ^ "Ethiopia: Fear Tigray conflict could trigger all-out war". DW. 20 July 2021. from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  2. ^ Endeshaw, Dawit (16 July 2021). "Three more regions reinforce Ethiopia army, Amhara against Tigray forces". Reuters. from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Ethiopian PM confirms Eritrean troops entered Tigray during conflict". Reuters. 23 March 2021. from the original on 23 March 2021.
  4. ^ "Eritrea confirms its troops are fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray". Al Jazeera. 17 April 2021. from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  5. ^ "UAE air bridge provides military support to Ethiopia gov't". Al Jazeera. from the original on 23 June 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Walsh, Declan (20 December 2021). "Foreign Drones Tip the Balance in Ethiopia's Civil War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  7. ^ Pamuk, Humeyra; Fick, Maggie (5 November 2021). Toby Chopra (ed.). "Ethiopian anti-government alliance says plans to dismantle government by force or negotiations". Reuters. from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
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February 15, 2024
tigray, this, article, contains, several, patronymic, names, rather, than, family, names, these, persons, addressed, their, given, name, their, inherited, name, part, ethiopian, civil, conflict, 2018, present, passing, destroyed, tank, idaga, hamus, destroyed,. This article contains several patronymic names rather than family names These persons are addressed by their given name and not by their inherited name Tigray WarPart of the Ethiopian civil conflict 2018 present A man passing by a destroyed T 72 tank in Idaga Hamus destroyed building in Chifra cemetery for victims of the Mai Kadra massacre an IDP camp in Shire a house destroyed during a battle to control HawzenDate3 November 2020 a 3 November 2022 2 years LocationTigray Amhara and Afar Regions of Ethiopia Eritrea Eritrea Ethiopia border Spillovers in Al Qadarif SudanResultThe government and the TPLF formally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and systematic verifiable disarmament 2 November 2022 16 17 18 Second agreement for implementing the peace deal signed by both parties 12 November 2022 19 20 Federal authority in the Tigray Region is reestablished Interim Regional Administration of Tigray formed on 23 March 2023 Continued Eritrean Defense Forces presence in Tigray Region Status of Tigray Region s Western Zone still disputedBelligerents Ethiopia 1 2 Eritrea 3 4 Arms suppliers United Arab Emirates 5 6 Turkey 6 Iran 6 UFEFCF 2021 22 7 8 Tigray OLA 2021 22 9 10 Agew Liberation Front 2021 22 11 SNLF 2021 22 12 Somali State Resistance 2021 22 8 Kimant Democratic Party 2021 22 8 Gambella People s Liberation Army 2021 22 13 ARDUF 2021 22 14 BPLM 2021 22 15 Commanders and leadersAbiy AhmedBirhanu JulaAbebaw TadesseKenea YadetaAbraham BelayAgegnehu TeshagerIsaias AfewerkiFilipos WoldeyohannesDebretsion GebremichaelFetlework GebregziabherTsadkan Gebretensae 21 22 Tadesse WeredeGetachew RedaJaal Marroo 9 Units involvedENDFEthiopian ArmyETAF 23 Amhara Special ForcesFanoAfar Special ForcesEDFEritrean ArmyERAFTigray Defense Forces Oromo Liberation Army 2021 22 Strengthc 500 000 Oct 2022 24 AmharaSpecial Forces 60 000 troops 25 250 000 Oct 2022 26 Casualties and losses3 073 killed 4 473 injured 8 000 captured rebel claim 27 28 2 MiG 23 lost 29 30 2 Mi 35 lost 31 32 33 1 C 130 lost 34 Unknown5 600 killed 2 300 injured 2 000 captured Ethiopian military claim 35 Exact casualty figures are disputed3 UN guards and 23 aid workers killed 36 875 879 refugees 37 20 000 missing 38 2 750 000 internally displaced 37 13 000 000 in need of food aid 39 Total deaths 80 000 100 000 per Ethiopian officials 40 162 000 600 000 per Ghent University 41 42 The Tigray War b was an armed conflict that lasted from 3 November 2020 a to 3 November 2022 47 48 The war was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied to the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side and the Tigray People s Liberation Front TPLF on the other 49 50 After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea fighting began when TPLF forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force ENDF alongside a number of other bases in Tigray 51 The ENDF counterattacked from the south while Eritrean Defence Forces EDF began launching attacks from the north which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as a law enforcement operation 52 53 Federal allied forces captured Mekelle the capital of the Tigray Region on 28 November after which Abiy declared the operation over 54 55 However the TPLF stated soon afterwards that it would continue fighting until the invaders were out 56 57 and on 28 June 2021 the Tigray Defense Forces TDF retook Mekelle by July the same year they had also advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions 58 In early November 2021 the TDF together with the Oromo Liberation Army OLA took control of several towns on the highway south from Tigray Region towards Addis Ababa and the TPLF stated that it considered marching on the capital 59 60 Together with seven smaller rebel groups the TPLF and OLA declared a coalition aiming to dismantle Abiy s government by force or by negotiations and then form a transitional authority 61 After a successful government counter offensive in response and then a series of negotiations with the TPLF Ethiopia declared an indefinite humanitarian truce on 24 March 2022 in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray 62 However fighting dramatically re escalated in late August 2022 after peace talks broke down 63 Rapid mobilization of troops soon followed with Ethiopia Eritrea and Tigray reportedly organizing hundreds of thousands of troops against each other by October the same year 24 After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November which went into effect the day after 48 Eritrea was not a party to the agreement however 64 and they largely continued to occupy parts of Tigray as of 2023 65 All sides particularly the ENDF EDF Amhara forces and TDF committed war crimes during the conflict 66 67 68 69 70 Mass extrajudicial killings of civilians took place throughout including in Axum 71 Bora 72 Chenna 73 74 Kobo 75 76 the Hitsats refugee camp 77 Humera 78 Mai Kadra 70 79 the Debre Abbay monastery 72 80 and Zalambessa 81 Between 162 000 and 600 000 people were killed 42 41 and war rape became a daily occurrence with girls as young as 8 and women as old as 72 being raped often in front of their families 82 83 A major humanitarian crisis developed as a result of the war 37 which led to widespread famine 84 39 It also inflicted immense economic damage on the region with the cost of rebuilding alone estimated to be roughly 20 billion 85 Contents 1 Background 1 1 Historical and political context 1 1 1 Lead up to the war 1 2 Constitutional context 2 Course of the war 2 1 Initial fighting 3 28 November 2020 2 2 Tigrayan guerrilla warfare November 2020 June 2021 2 3 Tigrayan counter offensive June November 2021 2 3 1 TDF OLA joint offensive October December 2021 2 4 Government allied counter offensive November 2021 March 2022 2 5 Ceasefire period March August 2022 2 6 Resurgence of fighting August November 2022 2 7 Second ceasefire November 2022 3 Spillover 3 1 Sudan 3 2 Al Shabaab invasion 4 International involvement 4 1 Alleged Somali involvement 5 Casualties and human rights violations 5 1 Crimes against humanity and genocide allegations 5 1 1 Ethnic profiling of Tigrayans 5 2 Sexual violence 5 3 Investigations 6 Humanitarian crisis 6 1 Humanitarian aid 6 2 Internal and forced displacement 6 2 1 Western Zone of Tigray 6 2 2 Refugees in Sudan 6 2 3 Eritrean refugees 7 Internet and media 7 1 Role of online social networks 7 1 1 Facebook 7 2 Restriction of media coverage 8 Peace process 9 Reactions 10 Aftermath 10 1 Health impacts 10 2 Economic impact 10 3 Continued Eritrean occupation 11 See also 12 Notes 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External linksBackground editHistorical and political context edit Further information Eritrean Ethiopian border conflict 2014 2016 Oromo protests and Ethiopian civil conflict 2018 present See also Eritrean involvement in the Tigray War Following the end of the Ethiopian Civil War in 1991 Ethiopia became a dominant party state under the rule of the Ethiopian People s Revolutionary Democratic Front EPRDF a coalition of four ethnically based parties 86 The founding and most influential member was the Tigray People s Liberation Front TPLF led by Meles Zenawi who was the prime minister of Ethiopia until his death in 2012 87 88 He was succeeded by Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn the chairman of the Southern Ethiopian People s Democratic Movement SEPDM a coalition member 89 On 15 February 2018 Hailemariam announced his resignation as both prime minister and chairman of the EPRDF owing to a growing discontent within the public fueled by a reaction to 27 years of repressive governance 90 91 92 On 28 March 2018 in a closed door election to chair the EPRDF executive committee members elected the Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation OPDO chairman Abiy Ahmed 93 On 2 April 2018 Ethiopian parliament elected Abiy as prime minister 94 One of Abiy s first actions after his election was to initiate a warming of relations with Eritrea a long time rival of the TPLF to end a 20 year long border conflict 95 While this decision was considered a cause of celebration at the time 96 97 many within the Tigray Region were heavily critical of this seeing it as a betrayal of those who died in the 1998 2000 war 98 The TPLF condemned the peace initiatives saying they were hastily made had fundamental flaws and also claimed it was decided on without consulting long time TPLF members 99 On 1 December 2019 Abiy merged the ethnic and region based parties of the EPRDF which had governed Ethiopia for 28 years and several opposition parties into his new Prosperity Party 100 101 The TPLF which had long dominated Ethiopian politics refused to join this new party 102 103 After losing the election and being ousted from the federal government TPLF officials relocated to the Tigray Region continuing to administer control there while frequently clashing with the federal government 86 104 In one instance the Tigray regional government was reported to have defied the federal government and refused to allow Ethiopian Federal Police to arrest Getachew Assefa the former chief of the National Intelligence and Security Service NISS of Ethiopia and executive member of the TPLF 105 The Ethiopian government and its supporters accused the TPLF of trying to re establish their rule over the country through violence and force 106 In turn the TPLF accused the federal government of accumulating too much power for itself and that it was engaging in ethnic discrimination of Tigrayans 107 108 Lead up to the war edit Further information COVID 19 pandemic in Ethiopia and 2020 Tigray regional election Throughout 2020 tensions between the federal government and the TPLF escalated in the months leading up to November 103 In March the National Election Board of Ethiopia delayed the general elections originally scheduled for 29 August 2020 to a then undetermined date due to the COVID 19 pandemic 109 The terms of federal and regional lawmakers as well as the executive branch were then extended by federal parliament beyond the October 2020 constitutional mandates 110 111 The TPLF led by its chairman Debretsion Gebremichael rejected these measures arguing that they were unconstitutional and held its own regional election on 9 September in defiance of the federal government 112 113 114 Several journalists were barred by the Ethiopian government from travelling to cover Tigray s regional election 115 116 Ethiopia considered the Tigray election to be illegal and responded by slashing federal funding to the region a decision the TPLF described as tantamount to declaration of war 117 51 nbsp People in Tigray registering to vote in the 2020 regional election during the COVID 19 pandemic August 2020 In late September 2020 the TPLF stated that the constitutional term limit of the House of Federation the House of Peoples Representatives the prime minister and the Council of Ministers was 5 October 2020 and that for this reason it would consider the incumbent constitutionally illegitimate after 5 October they proposed replacing the government with a technocratic caretaker government as detailed in a plan posted on Facebook by the Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces 118 Ethiopian elite units were transported to Gherghera base near Asmara as part of an alleged pact between Prime Minister Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to strike out of existence the TPLF according to former Eritrean Minister of Defence Mesfin Hagos 119 In late October 2020 the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission stated that it was trying to mediate between the federal government and the TPLF as well as the other regional governments but that the pre conditions set by all sides were blocking progress 120 As tension continued to grow a brigadier general appointed by Abiy was prevented by the Tigray government from taking up his military post 121 The same day before the Tigray forces launched the Northern Command attacks the federal parliament of Ethiopia had suggested designating the TPLF as a terrorist organization 103 Constitutional context edit The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia states in Article 39 1 Every Nation Nationality and People in Ethiopia has an unconditional right to self determination including the right to secession Article 62 9 grants the House of Federation the right to order Federal intervention if any State government in violation of the Constitution endangers the constitutional order 122 Course of the war editMain article Timeline of the Tigray War Initial fighting 3 28 November 2020 edit Northern Command attacksMain article Northern Command attacks Ethiopia nbsp A map showing the Ethiopian allied forces Tigray offensive 4 28 November 2020 Just before midnight on 3 November 2020 Tigray Special Forces and allied local militia attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Force ENDF Northern Command headquarters in Mekelle the Fifth Battalion barracks in Dansha and other Northern Command bases 123 124 45 103 Several people were killed and the TPLF claimed the attack was carried out in self defence 125 105 or preemptive self defense 51 In retaliation 126 an Ethiopian offensive was launched on 4 November which was accompanied by the declaration of a state of emergency the creation of the State of Emergency Inquiry Board 127 and a shutdown of government services in the Tigray Region 128 129 During the subsequent days skirmishes continued and the Ethiopian federal parliament declared the creation of an interim government for Tigray 130 Ethiopian offensives in the north were accompanied with airstrikes and several towns and cities were retaken 131 Early massacresMain articles Mai Kadra massacre Humera massacre 2020 and Battle of Humera nbsp nbsp Funeral service for the victims of the Mai Kadra massacre 1 Reported conflict incidents in the first 7 months of the war including battles ambushes airstrikes drone attacks and shelling 2 On the night of 9 to 10 November 2020 600 civilians mostly Amharas and Welkait were killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra with machetes and knives used by local militias and police loyal to the TPLF according to preliminary investigations by Amnesty International and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission 132 70 other refugees interviewed by the Financial Times and Reuters said it was the Amhara militia who were the perpetrators and Tigrayans who were the victims 133 134 Two days later refugees interviewed by the Daily Telegraph The Guardian and The New York Times stated that Amhara militias including Fano 135 136 and the ENDF 78 carried out beatings and massacres of 92 Tigrayans in Humera 137 Humera was shelled from the direction of the Eritrean Ethiopian border for two days around 9 11 November The ENDF gained control of the town one day later 138 Within the same month Amhara Region forces took over and occupied Western Tigray 139 140 Offensives of joint ENDF Amhara Region Eritrean forces into Tigray were facilitated by the intervention of Pterosaurus drones launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab Eritrea The Chinese made armed drones bombed Tigrayan artillery and weapons depots 141 142 c 143 In the late hours of 13 November 2020 Tigray forces fired a rocket towards the airports of Bahir Dar and Gondar in the Amhara Region 144 On 14 November Tigray forces launched rockets at the Eritrean capital of Asmara but the missiles missed 145 The Tigray government claimed these locations contained military terminals that served as bases to carry out airstrikes 146 Mekelle offensiveMain article Mekelle offensive 2020 nbsp The aftermath of an airstrike on MekelleFrom 17 to 19 November Ethiopian forces captured the Raya district and the towns of Shire Alamata Adwa and Axum 147 148 and began moving towards Adigrat 149 Fighting between Tigray and Eritrea took place in Adi Quala Zalembesa Taruna Ali Tina Wadqomdi and Badme 150 On 23 November Ethiopian forces reached the regional capital of Mekelle and encircled it A military spokesperson for Ethiopia Colonel Dejene Tsegaye announced that Mekelle would be shelled and told Tigray civilians to flee the city because Ethiopian forces would show no mercy 151 125 Though TPLF leaders and special forces had already left the city Ethiopian forces continued their direct assault on Mekelle on the morning of 28 November and started heavily shelling the city By the evening Prime Minister Abiy declared Ethiopian forces had taken full control of the city In total 27 civilians were killed and 100 others were injured 152 153 The Tigray government vowed to continue fighting 56 154 Tigrayan guerrilla warfare November 2020 June 2021 edit Formation of the Tigray Defense ForcesAfter Ethiopian federal forces and their allies captured Mekelle and other major cities forces loyal to the Tigray government began to regroup into mountainous areas of the region and reorganized under the banner of the Tigray Defense Forces TDF 155 51 This retreat was partially caused by the fact that a large portion of the TDF s artillery had been destroyed by air strikes 156 The TDF also began to dig into their positions in rural Tigray 157 marking the start of a guerrilla campaign against Ethiopian allied forces from the mountains 51 Eritrean occupation of the northeast nbsp Destroyed IFV in Axum Tigray Region June 2021On 28 and 29 November witnesses and survivors including refugees in Sudan reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces EDF carried out the Axum massacre of about 720 to 800 civilians 71 158 159 160 The Eritrean government stated that it was angered by Amnesty International s report on the massacre calling it transparently unprofessional and politically motivated and accusing Amnesty of fabricating evidence 161 However refugees also spoke of the EDF killing 80 150 people in Idaga Hamus on 30 November as part of a larger series of extrajudicial killings known as the Adigrat massacres 162 A witness told Al Jazeera that on 4 December Eritrean troops entered her town in southeastern Tigray and attempted to rape her this statement is corroborated by other survivors and witnesses who spoke of rampant sexual violence massacres and destruction of civilian infrastructure committed by the EDF 163 In February 2021 the UN chief coordinator of humanitarian efforts Mark Lowcock said that up to 40 of Tigray was not controlled by Ethiopian troops Aside from Tigrayan rebel forces he said that much of that area was under the control of the EDF pursuing their own objectives independent of Ethiopian command 164 By early March residents said that the number of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray was in the thousands 163 Continued insurgency nbsp The Tigray insurgency 28 November 2020 18 June 2021By mid December fighting had reached Hagere Selam Samre Dogu a Kolla Tembien May Tsemre and localities around Maychew 165 During this time a violently enforced curfew was set up by Ethiopian forces along with Eritrean soldiers 165 According to the Europe External Programme with Africa EEPA in Wukro over 200 people were killed and the town was left deserted The Ethiopian government denied involvement in the killing 165 On 9 January 2021 Ethiopian TV reported that 300 refugees in Hitsats camp were executed by the TPLF 77 According to refugees pro TPLF forces used Hitsats as a base for several weeks in November 2020 killing several refugees who wanted to leave the camp to get food and in one incident killed nine young Eritrean men in revenge for having lost a battle against the EDF 166 On 18 February unidentified militiamen ambushed a passenger bus in Adi Mesino killing six and injuring 10 167 Ultimately the early gains made by the ENDF and EDF against Tigrayan forces did not lead to a decisive defeat of the re organized and invigorated TDF 168 In late January the TDF had rallied and were intensifying their insurgency against Ethiopian forces despite the initial setbacks and heavy losses 155 During this time fighting was reported to have taken place around Mekelle and the ENDF had retreated from rural positions towards the city 169 Several of these clashes took place in mid February at Samre a small town 45 km 28 mi south west of Mekelle Thousands of Ethiopian troops supported by artillery tanks and airstrikes fought dug in forces loyal to the Tigray regional government 155 According to a report by Ghent University massacres of civilians continued into March including around 250 in Humera over the course of three days by unconfirmed perpetrators and 13 in Grizana by the EDF 170 That same month an undated video surfaced that purported to show Ethiopian troops executing 11 unarmed men before throwing their bodies off a cliff near Mahibere Dego 171 TDF regains territory nbsp Estimated territorial control on 23 April 2021Fighting intensified in early April 155 by this point the TDF was in control of the rural areas of central and southern Tigray along with parts of eastern and south eastern Tigray while the ENDF was in control of the main roads and urban areas Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north respectively All sides wished to secure a military victory but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict 157 The Tigray Defense Forces were engaged in a war of attrition with popular support from the people of Tigray who were infuriated by war crimes committed by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers and worried about a potential decrease in the region s autonomy 172 51 This resulted in the TDF growing in strength and the concept of secession from Ethiopia gaining popularity in Tigray a stance which was considered likely to inflame Amhara Tigray territorial disputes 157 On 6 May Ethiopia s House of Peoples Representatives declared the TPLF as a terrorist organization 173 On 21 May Ethiopia s military prosecutors convicted 3 soldiers of rape and pressed charges against more than 50 others suspected of killing or raping civilians in Tigray 174 Tigrayan counter offensive June November 2021 edit Retaking of MekelleMain article Operation Alula nbsp Abandoned school in Addilal Dogu a Tembien partially destroyed from a bombing by the Ethiopian Air Force in June 2021 On 22 June 2021 an Ethiopian military cargo plane was shot down over Samre marking a turn of the war in the TDF s favor 175 On 28 June 2021 the Tigray Defense Forces retook the city of Mekelle People celebrated in the streets of Mekelle as the TDF took the city 176 177 Ethiopian soldiers police and administrators were seen leaving ahead of the occupation by the TDF Shortly after hearing news of the TDF advance the Ethiopian government declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire across the Tigray Region 178 BBC News reporter Vivienne Nunis characterised the ceasefire as an attempt by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to save face the government having little other option 179 On 29 June Tigrayan forces vowed to continue their offensive and drive into Eritrea or the Amhara Region if necessary and said that Mekelle was 100 under the control of Tigrayan forces 180 On 30 June 2021 the TDF had entered the town of Shire some 140 kilometres 87 mi northwest of Mekelle after it had been abandoned by Eritrean troops The International Crisis Group claimed that the TDF now controlled most of the Tigray region 179 The Ethiopian government claimed on 30 June that it could re enter Mekelle in less than three weeks if it wanted to In the same announcement the Ethiopian government stated that all Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region though this was not confirmed by the Eritrean government 181 Tigrayan push in Afar and Amhara nbsp A map showing the TDF s Gondar Bahir Dar offensive 6 July 20 August 2021 On 6 July 2021 the Tigrayan government mobilised to retake western Tigray from Amhara forces 182 A TDF offensive starting on 12 July resulted in Tigrayan forces capturing southern Tigray including the towns of Alamata and Korem 183 The TDF subsequently crossed the Tekeze River and advanced westward capturing the town of Mai Tsebri in the Tselemti district and prompting Amhara officials to call on its militias to arm themselves and mobilise 184 Following the TDF s rapid advances Abiy threatened to resume war with Tigray and crush the rebels raising fears of genocide 185 He called on other regions of Ethiopia to mobilise their special forces The Oromia Sidama and SNNPR regions answered the call and mobilised 186 From 17 to 19 July the TDF began launching attacks in the Afar Region to its east prompting the Benishangul Gumuz Gambela Harari and Somali regions to join the war 187 Heavy fighting in western Afar displaced over 54 000 people and resulted in the TDF reportedly capturing three districts in the region 188 While the Tigray government claimed it only entered Afar to target federal forces experts believe their aim was to sever a portion of National Highway A1 a vital trade route for landlocked Ethiopia linking the capital of Addis Ababa to the Port of Djibouti from which most of its petroleum products are imported 189 190 Following the TDF s counter attack on two districts of his region the Amhara regional President Agegnehu Teshager called for the total mobilisation of all people of all ages who are armed in the region to fight against the Tigrayans A similar call was made in Afar 191 Meanwhile the city of Weldiya was captured by the TDF on 12 August 2021 192 On 4 August 2021 some Agew people declared themselves independent from the Amhara Region and formed the Agew Liberation Front ALF 193 The next day Lalibela was reported to have been seized by Tigrayan forces 194 195 On 9 August UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore expressed concern about reports that over 200 people including 100 children had been killed in attacks on displaced families sheltering at a health facility and a school in the Afar Region 196 On 11 August the TDF and the Oromo Liberation Army OLA announced an alliance to overthrow Abiy Ahmed s government saying they were also in talks with other rebel groups to establish a grand coalition 197 With the TDF advancing deeper into Amhara various cities across the region began enforcing curfews 198 On 9 September 2021 the Ethiopian government claimed Tigrayan forces had been routed and heavily defeated in the Afar Region TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said its forces had seen no fighting in Afar and had redeployed to the adjoining Amhara Region 199 On 30 September amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials reportedly because of meddling in its internal affairs giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country 200 201 October 2021 government allied offensive nbsp Conflict incidents reported between November 2020 and December 2021On 8 October 2021 Getachew said that an intensive air campaign by the Ethiopian Air Force began against TDF positions in the North Wollo and North Gondar zones of the Amhara Region mostly around the towns of Wegeltena Wurgessa and Haro 202 He also stated there was a massive build up of forces on all fronts 202 The federal government and Amhara regional government did not respond to the claim 202 On 11 October Ethiopian allied forces launched coordinated ground attacks on all fronts against the TDF with combined arms including tanks helicopters heavy artillery warplanes and drones according to the Tigrayan government 203 204 General Tsadkan Gebretensae member of the central command of the TDF said both sides had been preparing for the offensive for months and predicted that battle would be decisive 156 The new offensive effectively ended the unilateral ceasefire declared by the federal government in June 205 and further deepened fears of the developing famine in Tigray with a federal government blockade still preventing most aid from arriving 156 Meanwhile the continued war prompted regional leaders including Kenyan President Kenyatta to voice their concerns and urge peace while US Secretary of State Blinken met with the AU envoy to Ethiopia former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to discuss the crisis 156 On 13 October Getachew claimed fighting continued intensifying with staggering casualties He also claimed clashes were taking place near Weldiya and that fighting had resumed in Afar within the Awra and Chifra districts near the Amhara border 206 207 A humanitarian worker citing witnesses said the EDF were fighting the TDF in Berhale a town in Afar 71 kilometres 44 mi northeast of Mekelle 207 TDF OLA joint offensive October December 2021 edit Main article TDF OLA joint offensive Further information OLA insurgency Fall of Dessie and Kombolcha nbsp A map showing the TDF OLA joint offensive 16 October 1 December 2021 On 30 October it was reported that Dessie had fallen to the TDF However control over the city was not immediately certain with the federal government denying its capture and reports of fierce fighting coming from the town 208 On 31 October the TDF claimed to have captured Kombolcha a town 21 km 13 mi east of Dessie and the Ethiopian government accused the TDF of massacring over 100 youths in the town 209 On the same day the Amhara regional government declared a state of emergency which included a region wide curfew 210 South of Kombolcha the OLA claimed to have seized control over Kemise on the A2 Highway which links Mekelle to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa 59 and later declared they were considering an offensive towards the capital 60 The TDF claimed they also linked up with the OLA 211 Meanwhile it was reported that a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans had occurred in Addis Ababa 211 State of emergency and rebel coalitionFurther information 2021 2022 Ethiopian state of emergency On 2 November 2021 as the counter offensive came deeper into federal controlled territory the Ethiopian government declared a six month state of emergency which envisages the possibility to arrest and detain critics of the government without a court warrant impose curfews institute censorship restrict freedom of movement as well as to call any adult person to fight in the war for fear of serving from three to ten years in prison 212 213 Authorities in Addis Ababa also told residents to register their weapons in order to fend off the anticipated offensive Four other regional governments also made a call to arms 214 60 On 5 November the TPLF OLA and other rebel groups declared the creation of a nine group coalition called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces 215 On 22 November Prime Minister Abiy stated that he will be leading the fight against the rebels from the battlefront after the TDF claimed to have captured Shewa Robit 216 217 saying We are now in the final stages of saving Ethiopia 218 Many countries also urged citizens to leave the country 218 Government allied counter offensive November 2021 March 2022 edit Main article ENDF National Unity Offensive nbsp A map showing the ENDF s National Unity offensive 26 November 23 December 2021 From 26 November to 6 December 2021 Ethiopian allied forces recaptured several towns in the Amhara and Afar regions including Lalibela and Shewa Robit according to the Ethiopian government 219 220 221 222 On 6 December government forces claimed to have recaptured the strategic cities of Dessie and Kombolcha 223 This was later confirmed by TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda however he claimed this was a strategic withdrawal which was part of their plan 224 On 12 December Reuters reported that forces loyal to the TPLF had recaptured the town of Lalibela less than two weeks after government forces and their allies had recaptured control of the town for themselves 225 Nevertheless by the end of the month the federal government had successfully repelled the incursion towards Addis Ababa 226 227 and Tigrayan forces were pushed back to Tigray 228 Fighting slows downOn 20 December 2021 the TPLF announced they had withdrawn their troops from Amhara and Afar saying they were hoping to create as stated by TPLF chairman Debretsion Gebremichael a decisive opening for peace Debretsion also requested the establishment of a no fly zone over Tigray as well as a weapons embargo against Ethiopia and Eritrea 229 230 Following these developments the ENDF stated that it would not advance any deeper into the Tigray region 231 However in January 2022 the Ethiopian Air Force began launching a bombing campaign in the Tigray Region killing 108 people including at least 56 from an airstrike targeting an IDP camp in Dedebit 232 233 On 7 January the same day as the Dedebit airstrike Ethiopia released a number of opposition leaders from prison including some from the TPLF and said they desired to have a dialogue with the Tigrayan leadership 234 On 26 January the Ethiopian council of ministers also proposed to end the state of emergency 235 Ceasefire period March August 2022 edit Further information Tigrayan peace process Ceasefire period March August 2022 On 24 March 2022 the Ethiopian government declared an indefinite humanitarian truce in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray 62 During the ceasefire both Ethiopia and the TPLF agreed to have talks about an official end to the war A number of outstanding issues in particular the presence of pro government troops in Tigray s Western Zone and restoring access to basic public service to Tigray were topics of discussion throughout 236 237 Though there were initial hopes of finding a peaceful solution to ending the war the talks soon became characterized by steadily increasing hostilities between the negotiation parties 238 By August talks started to break down with both the Ethiopian government and the TPLF accusing each other of refusing to make peace 239 240 Resurgence of fighting August November 2022 edit nbsp Playground in Mekelle destroyed by an airstrike 26 August 2022 In late August 2022 after months of ceasefire fighting resumed Both sides blamed each other for initiating the fighting and both also expressed frustration for a lack of progress towards negotiations to end the 21 month conflict 63 The fighting itself concentrated in the border area connecting Tigray Amhara and Afar Allegations emerged that the Tigray were smuggling in weapons leading to the Ethiopian Air Force shooting down a plane claiming it was carrying weapons for the TPLF meanwhile the government was accused of indiscriminate air bombardments on civilian targets 241 Civilians reported that pro government militias such as Fano had gotten involved as well 242 Exacerbating tensions were severe food shortages an issue that remained unsolved have particularly affected the Tigray region 243 242 244 Joint Eritrean Ethiopian offensive nbsp A map showing the Ethiopian allied forces Tigray offensive 1 September 3 November 2022 On 27 August the TDF captured the town of Kobo following the ENDF s withdrawal 245 Ethiopia and Eritrea subsequently announced an offensive in North Tigray on 1 September 246 On 13 September 2022 the TPLF said Eritrea had taken Sheraro 247 The town s capture by Eritrea and the fighting in nearby areas displaced around 210 000 people most of whom fled to the city of Shire 248 A day later Ethiopian airstrikes on Mekelle killed at least ten people 249 By mid September reports emerged of Eritrea engaging in mass mobilization of the country s reservists to be sent to Tigray 250 nbsp Aftermath of a drone attack on the Adi Haqi campus of Mekelle University 13 September 2022 On 20 September the government of Tigray said Eritrea had invaded the region and that heavy fighting was taking place across northern Tigray 251 252 253 The TDF had thus far largely resisted the offensive and reportedly launched a counterattack to retake Sheraro Meanwhile Ethiopian and Eritrean forces began massing in Abala and Berhale in the Afar Region within striking distance of Mekelle 254 On 27 September an airstrike allegedly carried out by Eritrea struck the northern town of Adi Dairo while it was celebrating Meskel killing at least six civilians and injured 19 more 255 On 2 October the TPLF announced it had withdrawn troops from Amhara s North Wollo Zone including Kobo to be redeployed north to reinforce lines under heavy Eritrean attack but warned it would return if their southern border is threatened 256 Three days later a second airstrike hit Adi Dairo killing between 50 and 65 people according to aid workers in the town 257 Full scale mobilizationFurther information Battle of Shire 2022 On 10 October the TPLF claimed that Eritrea was escalating its offensive sending more forces towards Rama Tserona and Zalambessa in the far north with one aid worker saying it is the heaviest fighting since hostilities resumed 258 Later reports confirmed that Eritrea was intensifying its efforts to mobilize more troops for the war it detained elderly mothers and fathers and sought draft dodgers 259 Tigray mobilized its citizens too calling on every able bodied person to join the fight 260 Amidst the three front offensive launched by Ethiopia and Eritrea estimates put the number of Ethiopian casualties at over 90 000 in a single month while Tigrayan casualties were also deemed incredibly high 261 According to peace and conflict studies researcher Kjetil Tronvoll it is likely that 100 000 people had been killed over the preceding few weeks and alleged that Eritrea and Ethiopia were using human wave attacks to overwhelm Tigrayan defenses 262 On 17 October Ethiopia said that it would seize every airport and other key infrastructure in the region 263 that same day the strategic city of Shire was taken by Eritrea and Ethiopia leading to the evacuation of thousands of its inhabitants 264 265 Ethiopian forces then took Alamata and Korem in the south 266 By 22 October ENDF and EDF allied forces had also captured Adwa and Axum even as peace talks with the TPLF were about to commence in South Africa 267 268 269 Witnesses from a number of towns told the Associated Press that Eritrean forces were regularly killing civilians between 23 and 29 October 270 Second ceasefire November 2022 edit Main article Ethiopia Tigray peace agreement On 25 October 2022 AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki announced that peace talks involving the Ethiopian government and the TPLF had commenced in Pretoria South Africa 107 271 Hopes that these talks could definitively stop the war however remained low as fighting did not appear to slow down and Ethiopia vocalized their distrust about the peace process 108 272 Still negotiations continued onward and on 2 November Ethiopia and the TPLF announced that they had signed an agreement for a cessation of hostilities made effective the next day on 3 November marking the two year anniversary of the war 48 however Eritrea and other warring parties were not involved in the agreement leaving their status ambiguous 64 On 12 November both parties signed a deal to allow humanitarian aid into Tigray 273 By 29 December federal police were reported to have returned to Tigray 274 while flights and internet access had also been restored 275 Despite important steps towards peace and deescalation being made between the government and the TPLF Amhara and Eritrean forces continued to launch attacks on Tigrayans in the months after the agreement was signed 276 277 278 Spillover editMain article Spillover of the Tigray War The intensity of the war led to spillover effects on the surrounding countries in the region particularly in Sudan 279 280 Sudan edit Main article Al Fashaga conflict nbsp Map showing refugee camp locations Thousands of people fled across the Ethiopia Sudan border By the end of November 2020 around 44 000 people fled to Sudan On 15 December 2020 four Sudanese soldiers were killed and 27 others were injured near the Ethiopia Sudan border 281 in what Sudan claimed to be an ambush by Ethiopian forces and Amhara militias Ethiopia claimed they were trying to stop a Sudanese militia from seizing farmlands on Ethiopian territory In response to the killings Sudan started to build up its military along the border with Ethiopia 282 283 284 Al Shabaab invasion edit Main article 2022 al Shabaab invasion of Ethiopia In late July 2022 the Islamist militant group al Shabaab launched a coordinated invasion of Ethiopia from Somalia 285 Multiple observers including political analyst Matthew Bryden and CNRS researcher Roland Marchal have speculated that the political instability caused by the Tigray War the perceived weakening of the Ethiopian state and the movement of federal troops away from Somalia and towards Tigray gave al Shabaab an opportune time to launch an offensive 286 287 288 International involvement editFurther information Eritrean involvement in the Tigray War nbsp A Chinese built Type 89 AFV destroyed by fighting in HawzenSince the war began both regional and international powers have been actively involved in the conflict A number of reports have been made alleging that China Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were all providing military support for the Ethiopian government via the sale of weaponized drones 289 290 291 292 As early as December 2020 there were unconfirmed rumors that Emirati drones were being stationed in the Eritrean port city of Assab 293 The victory of Ethiopian forces over Dessie and Kombolcha in December 2021 was partly attributed to the drones supplied by Ethiopia s allies 294 295 In Debretsion Gebremichael s order to withdraw all his forces from Tigray borders in December 2021 he mentioned the drones provided by foreign powers as a major factor that prompted his decision 291 Alleged Somali involvement edit There have been multiple unconfirmed reports of Somali troops being sent from a secret training base in Eritrea run by the National Intelligence and Security Agency to fight against the newly formed TDF 154 The first of these reports came in January 2021 from unverified social media accounts 162 The same month Somalia s information minister Osman Abukar Dubbe confirmed Somali soldiers were training in Eritrea but denied any of these troops had been sent to Tigray According to the Voice of America several sources with direct knowledge of the program including three Somali officials and a foreign diplomat confirmed to them that Somali troops have been training in neighbouring Eritrea 162 In January 2022 The Globe and Mail reported evidence of Somali troops were involved and they had committed atrocities in Tigray The report noted that before the war began Somali forces under the leadership of the Eritrean Army had been stationed in trenches along the border 296 A small group of parents also protested in Mogadishu about what they said was the government s mismanagement of the issue They demanded information on their loved ones who they say they haven t seen in a year 162 154 The head of Somalia s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs asked the Somali president to investigate claims by family members that their sons had gone off to fight in Ethiopia and are now missing 297 On 19 January 2021 the Somali government denied the claim that Somali troops had trained in Eritrea and then deployed in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia 298 299 Former head of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency Abdilsalan Guld 300 claimed that Somali troops were sent to Tigray Guld stated that the soldiers aged from 20 to 30 years old were secretly taken from Mogadishu and sent to Asmara for military training Guld stated that 370 of the Somali troops trained by Eritrea were killed in Tigray and hundreds of others were wounded 301 299 Casualties and human rights violations editMain articles Casualties of the Tigray War and War crimes in the Tigray War nbsp A mass grave of civilian victims in Hawzen Tigray 302 303 As of May 2023 the combined impact of wartime violence famine and a lack of medical access had killed an estimated 162 000 378 000 people 42 41 with other reported estimates reaching numbers as high as 600 000 killed 304 All sides in the conflict have been accused of committing war crimes and violating international human rights law 66 305 with evidence of unlawful killings torture and sexual violence being widely reported 306 307 308 Crimes against humanity and genocide allegations edit Main article War crimes in the Tigray War Crimes against humanity See also Predictions of a genocide in Ethiopia Many sources have accused the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments of engaging in crimes against humanity via ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans 309 310 311 The Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have also been accused of genocide 312 313 314 315 According to the EU s special envoy to Ethiopia Pekka Haavisto senior members of the Ethiopian government called for wip ing out all Tigrayans for 100 years 316 317 318 The Ethiopian Government denied the allegations 319 On 4 June 2021 the non profit Genocide Watch classified the events in Tigray as step 9 of genocide eradication as well as step 10 denial 320 They issued another emergency alert on 20 November 2021 stating that both sides are committing genocide referring to detentions of thousands of people based on Oromo or Tigrayan ethnic identity and arguing that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed s hate speech and calls for war together with attacks by the ENDF and TPLF put Ethiopia into stages 4 dehumanization 6 polarization 8 persecution and 9 extermination of the ten stages of genocide 321 Ethnic profiling of Tigrayans edit Main article Ethnic discrimination in Ethiopia Tigray War Ethnic profiling against Tigrayans occurred during the Tigray War with Ethiopians of Tigrayan ethnicity being put on indefinite leave from Ethiopian Airlines or refused permission to board 322 prevented from overseas travel 323 and an order of identifying ethnic Tigrayans from all government agencies and NGOs being used by federal police to request a list of ethnic Tigrayans from an office of the World Food Programme 324 Tigrayans houses were arbitrarily searched and Tigrayans bank accounts suspended 323 During the conflict many Tigrayans were profiled both professionally and socially with many fired or called names when out in public as a result of the conflict such as Tigrayan military members having their weapons confiscated or dismissed from duty 325 A hotspot for this form of profiling took place in Addis Ababa including disappearances of major Ethiopian officials and arrests of Tigrayans on the grounds that they supported the TPLF which was designated as a terrorist organisation in May 2021 by Ethiopian parliament 326 Ethnic Tigrayan members of Ethiopian components of United Nations peacekeeping missions were disarmed and some forcibly flown back to Ethiopia at the risk of torture or execution according to United Nations officials The State of Emergency Taskforce stated that the Tigrayan peacekeepers were returned to Ethiopia because of infiltration of TPLF elements in various entities 327 328 On 1 November 2021 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that we should closely follow those who work for the enemy and live amongst us as reports of a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans came out of Addis Ababa 211 Sexual violence edit Main article Sexual violence in the Tigray WarSee also Hawzen in the Tigray War nbsp Protest against rape and sexual violence in TigrayWartime rape and sexual violence was also widespread being perpetrated by virtually all sides 329 330 There were deeply distressing reports of sexual and gender based violence extrajudicial killings and the widespread destruction and looting of public and private property by all parties according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights More than 136 cases of rape were reported in hospitals in Mekelle Ayder Adigrat and Wukro in eastern Tigray between December 2020 and January 2021 with indications that there are many more such unreported cases 331 As of August 2021 there were 512 to 514 rape victims registered with Ethiopian hospitals 332 333 however the real number is probably much larger than that and can be as large as 120 000 by some estimations 334 and many sources believe the sexual violence in Tigray was intentionally committed with the purpose of destroying the morale of the enemy to genocide and genetically cleanse certain populations and to spread STIs as a form of biological warfare 335 329 333 336 Often soldiers and militias subjected Tigrayan women and girls including pregnant women and young girls to rape gang rape sexual slavery sexual mutilation and other forms of sexual torture 337 338 Such sexual violence is often accompanied with other forms of physical and mental abuse including burning their victims with hot iron or cigarettes forcing metal rods or nails into their victim s genitals 338 329 raping their victim in front of their family members forcing their victims to rape their family members calling their victims by derogatory words and ethnic slurs etc 339 338 There were also reports that Tigrayan forces had gang raped dozens of women and underage girls in at least two towns in the Amhara Region 340 and girls some as young as 14 were identified as victims of rape in the towns of Chenna and Kobo in August and September 2021 341 342 343 After being subjected to sexual violence many women become infected with STIs like HIV who face difficulty getting treatment due to a sense of shame as well as the collapse of medical infrastructure caused by the war 337 Investigations edit Investigations into the war crimes include the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission EHRC and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR joint investigation 344 and the ACHPR Tigray investigation by the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights ACHPR 345 346 Humanitarian crisis edit nbsp Distribution of internally displaced persons in Tigray August 2021 In February 2021 GOAL Ethiopia the International Rescue Committee IRC MCMDO MSF Spain and World Vision found that nearly one in seven children in 16 woredas and town administrations across Tigray were acutely malnourished While in Enderta Abi Adi and Shire GOAL and IRC reported that 16 6 of children screened had acute malnutrition with 3 5 suffering from severe acute malnutrition 347 There was limited access to clean water due to hygiene and sanitation services largely being disrupted across Tigray The Tigray Regional Water Bureau reported that out of 36 villages it assessed only 4 had partially functioning water sources Along with that an estimated 250 motorized water pumping systems have been out of order and the status of 11 000 hand pumps in rural areas was unknown Because of this there was a heightened risk of outbreaks of waterborne diseases and COVID 19 347 nbsp Aid workers providing shelter kits in Tigray wearing masks to protect themselves from COVID 19 March 2021 According to the UN in March 2021 out of more than 260 health centres in Tigray before the war only 31 were fully functional while 7 were partially functional According to the World Health Organization WHO all of the functioning hospitals and health centres in Tigray had a lack of medical supplies drugs and equipment UN partners reported continued looting of health facilities Only 16 of the health facilities had vaccination services and only 17 had maternal services antenatal care birth delivery etc 348 In late October 2022 it was revealed that the Tigray Region was running out of medical supplies with the CEO of their largest hospital saying it was doomed to collapse soon 349 350 WHO officials stated that childhood vaccination rates had plummeted from 90 before the war to under 10 351 Humanitarian aid edit Further information Famine in northern Ethiopia 2020 present nbsp The percentage of people in need reached with food aid as of 31 May 2021 White 0 and Black 100 According to the United Nations UN some 2 3 million children have been cut off from desperately needed aid and humanitarian assistance Since the start of the conflict the Ethiopian federal government has strictly controlled access to the Tigray Region and the UN has said it is frustrated that talks with the Ethiopian government had not yet secured adequate humanitarian access for food including ready to use therapeutic food for the treatment of child malnutrition medicines water fuel and other essentials that are running low said UNICEF 352 353 354 355 356 By 13 March 2021 the UN and its partners reached about 900 000 people with complete food baskets and 700 000 people with clean water Despite the progress made many are still hard to reach due to ongoing fighting About 4 5 million people of are still in need of aid and about 1 million of that are not in accessible areas due to ongoing fighting 348 On 31 August 2021 USAID s mission director in Ethiopia Sean Jones said We do have proof that several of our warehouses have been looted and completely emptied in the areas particularly in Amhara where TPLF soldiers have gone into I do believe that the TPLF has been very opportunistic in a televised interview with state broadcaster EBC in Addis Ababa 357 358 All parties to the conflict have been accused by USAID of looting aid shipments 357 By the summer of 2022 the government blockade of essential services to Tigray was still in place and the humanitarian situation remained severe with roughly 13 million people being in need of food aid 359 According to the World Food Programme while international aid had technically been allowed into the region during the 2022 ceasefire in practice very little aid was reaching the people that needed it most largely due to fuel not being made available in these area 360 243 On 25 August one day after the war resumed the WFP accused the TPLF of stealing 570 000 liters of fuel meant to transport humanitarian aid 361 362 On 29 October the same year UNICEF reported that around 29 7 million people in Ethiopia were in need of humanitarian assistance 37 Internal and forced displacement edit See also Shire in the Tigray War and Hamdayet Border Reception Centre nbsp Family in a crowded IDP camp in Shire Tigray June 2021 363 nbsp IDP camp in Soqota Amhara May 2022 In December 2020 the UN estimated more than one million people had been internally displaced by the fighting 364 More than 50 000 people have fled to Sudan due to the conflict 365 323 Communications and travel links were still blocked and Human Rights Watch warned that actions that deliberately impede relief supplies would violate international humanitarian law 364 Possible COVID 19 outbreaks were feared as refugees fleeing the Tigray conflict sheltered in crowded camps 366 By March 2021 Shire had become a major centre for internally displaced people and humanitarian aid distribution 367 In September 2021 the humanitarian situation continued to worsen in Tigray Afar and Amhara Regions due both to the armed conflict itself and due to bureaucratic obstruction Two thousand displaced people returned to the Fanti Rasu zone in Afar Region after the ENDF and Afar Special Forces regained control and OCHA partner organisations access to improved 368 UNICEF stated that by the end of September 2022 around 574 000 more people in Afar Amhara and Tigray were left displaced after fighting resumed in August 2022 they also reported that over 870 000 had become refugees 37 369 Western Zone of Tigray edit nbsp Internal migration due to the Tigray War red is a decrease in population while green is an increaseMain article War crimes in the Tigray War Ethnic cleansing of Tigrayans in the Western Zone In November 2020 Amhara Region Special Forces 370 and Amhara militias loyal to the Amhara regional government 51 took control of the western zone of Tigray in order to settle a decades old land dispute They claim the area was taken from them by force in 1992 after TPLF forces overthrew the communist PDRE government and divided the country into ethnic regional states They have also claimed the woredas districts of Welkait Tegede Kafta Humera Tselemti and Raya to be theirs 371 Since then the area has been under the de facto control of Amhara regional authorities Their control has been marked by reports of ethnically motivated violence and forced displacement By February 2021 about 45 000 civilians had been forced to leave the zone due to extrajudicial killings arbitrary detentions and the disappearances of people especially young men 370 One refugee interviewed by Reuters said that if they didn t leave when they did they would have been killed by Amhara forces 41 other refugees interviewed have also described attacks looting and threats by Amhara forces 68 In March 2021 Mulu Nega then leader of the federal government appointed Transitional Government of Tigray 372 stated that Amhara de facto administrators of Western Tigray used violence against ethnic Tigrayans and forcibly displaced them 68 Yabsira Eshetie the administrator of the area denied the claims The Amhara government also denied the reports of forced displacement and asked the Ethiopian government to modify the border between the Amhara and Tigray regions US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that there had been acts of ethnic cleansing in Tigray 68 Refugees in Sudan edit Further information Ethiopian refugees in Sudan nbsp Ethiopian refugee camp in SudanSome Tigrayans who fled to Sudan as refugees would later find themselves victimized again by human traffickers upon arrival Many refugees had testified being kidnapped regularly tortured and transported to warehouses in Libya where many would die due to poor living conditions 373 Eritrean refugees faced similar risks as in addition to the traffickers they also risked getting kidnapped by the Eritrean government 374 This situation worsened further after Sudan descended into violence in 2023 placing refugees at further risk of being kidnapped 373 375 Eritrean refugees edit Further information Refoulement of Eritrean refugees during the Tigray War In November 2020 the UN warned of very critical supply shortages for the nearly 100 000 Eritrean refugees who prior to the war were registered in four camps in Tigray region 364 376 Later that same month the UN reported that people in Tigray were fleeing Mekelle The federal government had warned of no mercy if Tigray forces and residents remained intermingled 364 377 As of 2 February 2021 20 000 of the Eritrean refugees in Tigray mostly from the Hitsats and Shimelba camps remained unaccounted for according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 378 Internet and media editRole of online social networks edit Main article Mass media in Ethiopia Claire Wilmot writing in The Washington Post found that a significant number of new single issue Twitter accounts were opened in the immediate aftermath of the Northern Command attacks Most appeared to be authentic accounts from people seeking to raise international awareness of the conflict in the midst of a communications blackout in Tigray 379 The Ethiopian government cited disinformation and hate speech to justify communications blackouts Researchers suggested that reducing access to information could help to create contexts where misinformation can thrive because it reduces the ability to verify information 379 380 In late July 2021 a report emerged that there was coordination in social media messaging and media reportage of the conflict in Ethiopia to an extent it mirrored an earlier Syrian hybrid information campaign designated as Project Basma 381 The Ethiopian government tried to control the information environment by positioning itself as the sole provider of reliable information 380 In February pro government groups called on their supporters in Ethiopia and the diaspora to combat what they called TPLF fake news online 382 Pro government groups used tactics similar to those of pro Tigray groups to push their narrative of the conflict though as of 5 February pro government campaigns had produced fewer Tweets overall 380 Both Agence France Presse and BBC News have documented examples of old or manipulated photos which misleadingly endorsed either the federal Ethiopian government or the TPLF 383 384 Researchers found that groups use tactics such as copy and paste campaigns hosted on websites which include instructions for opening new accounts copying and pasting pre written tweets and tagging influencers Both campaigns produced disinformation and misinformation though the majority of content produced was activist in nature 380 Wilmot suggested that the lines between authentic political activity and deliberate manipulation of online content during the conflict were increasingly blurred 379 Facebook edit See also Facebook content management controversiesFacebook has been heavily criticized for its perceived role in fuelling ethnic tensions during the war and has faced accusations that in choosing not to crack down on hate speech being spread by Ethiopian users it is complicit in cases of ethnic cleansing in the country 385 386 387 388 389 This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it October 2022 Restriction of media coverage edit Further information Democratic backsliding in Ethiopia and Internet in Ethiopia The Ethiopian government had engaged in repeated crackdowns on media coverage throughout the war 390 In November 2021 during the 2021 2022 state of emergency the Ethiopian Media Authority EMA threatened to cancel the media licences of BBC News Reuters CNN and Associated Press accusing the news organisations of having consistently disseminated news that sowed seeds of animosity among people and compromised the sovereignty of the country The EMA cited reporting the Law enforcement operation as a genocidal campaign as an example of misleading information aiming to undermin e the federal government s efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region 391 On 20 May 2022 Ethiopian law enforcement began arresting journalists en masse with 4 500 people in the Amhara Region alone being taken into custody One Amhara law enforcement official described this as a way to maintain law and order and get rid of outside enemies 392 The media restrictions resulted in what has been described as an information blackout 393 Many journalists both local and international have noted the difficulty they face in trying to report on the war as they risk the possibility of getting either killed or imprisoned by government forces 394 395 By December 2021 the Committee to Protect Journalists described both Ethiopia and Eritrea as the worst jailers of journalists in sub Saharan Africa 396 Peace process editMain article Tigrayan peace process Several proposals for peace negotiations and mediation were made involving some of the main groups involved in the war Of these this includes an emergency Intergovernmental Authority on Development summit in December 2020 397 a joint statement by the National Congress of Great Tigray the Tigray Independence Party and Salsay Weyane Tigray describing their eight pre conditions for peace in February 2021 398 a mediation group called A3 1 consisting of three African countries Kenya Niger and Tunisia and one non African country Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in July August 2021 399 and a March August 2022 ceasefire wherein Ethiopian and Tigrayan officials attempted to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict 238 On 2 November 2022 the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace accord with the African Union as a mediator and agreed on orderly smooth and coordinated disarmament 400 401 The agreement was made effective the next day on 3 November marking the two year anniversary of the war 48 As part of this process Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed TPLF s Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray and the Ethiopian parliament removed the TPLF from its terrorism list 402 Reactions editThis section needs expansion You can help by adding to it November 2023 Main article Reactions to the Tigray War The Tigray War has been the subject of numerous reactions and protests both locally 403 and worldwide 404 405 406 Aftermath editHealth impacts edit nbsp A wounded child at Ayder Hospital in Mekelle Tigray The war had a devastating impact on the healthcare system of Tigray of the 853 health facilities in the region 86 were at least partially damaged 232 of them were left completely unusable and 28 were destroyed entirely 407 It also led to a higher rate of maternal and infant mortality in the Tigray Region In a study funded by UNFPA Ethiopia and UNICEF Ethiopia it was estimated that maternal mortality rates had increased from 186 deaths per 100 000 people pre war to 840 deaths per 100 000 people post war 408 A health coordinator at the Tigray Health Bureau said to Addis Standard in June 2023 that according to their research both maternal and infant mortality rates had regressed to the levels they were at in 2001 409 According to Tigrayan health official Tsegay Gidey 81 of mothers in the Seharti Samre woreda had birth defects and 32 newborn infants had died between January June 2023 409 Economic impact edit The war had a costly impact on the Ethiopian economy In late November 2022 the cost of rebuilding was estimated to be around 20 billion 85 410 The cost of rebuilding healthcare facilities in the Tigray Afar and Amhara Regions was at least 1 4 billion being devastated by the war 411 Between June 2022 and March 2023 government debt had increased by 6 reaching a debt total of roughly 60 6 billion 3 3 trillion birr 412 The Tigray War also damaged the country s relationship with foreign creditors 412 Shortly after it began in November 2020 the European Union suspended budget support to Ethiopia citing reports of human rights abuses a decision they would maintain until the end of the war 413 414 The credit agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Ethiopia s credit rating in January 2023 expressing lower confidence that the Ethiopian government would be able to pay off their external debt 415 Inflation hit the country hard in the months following the war Ethiopia had an average inflation rate of 30 in 2022 largely driven by food prices 416 in February 2023 the overall inflation rate reached 32 417 by 12 September 2023 Enkutatash Ethiopia continued to experience high inflation with commonly purchased food items becoming more expensive 418 Although the war has not been considered the sole reason for these economic struggles it has still been described as a contributing factor 416 418 Continued Eritrean occupation edit Although the war largely came to a halt after the peace agreement was signed Eritrea continues to occupy parts of Tigray as of mid 2023 65 The EDF has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia since November 2022 from 17 to 25 November alone Eritrea was reported to have destroyed 241 houses and killed at least 111 people 419 by 30 December it was estimated that Eritrean and Amhara forces killed 3 700 since the signing of the peace deal 420 The Tigray Health Bureau noted that 852 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported between November and December 2022 according to aid workers and interviews with survivors most of these were committed by Eritrean forces 421 As of January 2023 over half of Irob district was occupied by Eritrea 420 Irob advocacy groups and former residents have described it as a de facto annexation of the area 65 A religious Irob leader told The Guardian in August 2023 that Eritrea was blocking off international aid to the area and lamented that there has been no improvement for us since the peace 65 See also edit nbsp Africa portal2020 in Eritrea 2020 in Ethiopia Eritrean Ethiopian War Eritrean Ethiopian border conflict Ethiopian Civil War 1974 1991 List of civil wars War in AmharaNotes edit a b Some articles state that the war began on 4 November 43 however the earliest instances of fighting are reported to have taken place during the very late hours of 3 November EAT UTC 03 00 44 45 46 Tigrinya ኲናት ትግራይ romanized Quinat Tĭgray Amharic ትግራይ ጦርነት romanized Tigray t Orinet Afar Tigray Qeebi A few EEPA articles begin with the following injunction Unconfirmed report References edit Ethiopia Fear Tigray conflict could trigger all out war DW 20 July 2021 Archived from the original on 20 July 2021 Retrieved 21 July 2021 Endeshaw Dawit 16 July 2021 Three more regions reinforce Ethiopia army Amhara against Tigray forces Reuters Archived from the original on 3 June 2022 Retrieved 12 August 2021 Ethiopian PM confirms Eritrean troops entered Tigray during conflict Reuters 23 March 2021 Archived from the original on 23 March 2021 Eritrea confirms its troops are fighting in Ethiopia s Tigray Al Jazeera 17 April 2021 Archived from the original on 13 October 2022 Retrieved 20 April 2021 UAE air bridge provides military support to Ethiopia gov t Al Jazeera Archived from the original on 23 June 2022 Retrieved 7 December 2021 a b c Walsh Declan 20 December 2021 Foreign Drones Tip the Balance in Ethiopia s Civil War The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 28 February 2022 Retrieved 22 December 2021 Pamuk Humeyra Fick Maggie 5 November 2021 Toby Chopra ed Ethiopian anti government alliance says plans to dismantle government by force or negotiations Reuters Archived from the original on 5 June 2022 Retrieved 5 November 2021 a b c Anna Cara Merchant Norman 5 November 2021 Tigray other groups form alliance against Ethiopia s leader The Washington Post Associated Press Archived from the original on 5 November 2021 Retrieved 5 November 2021 a b Anna Cara 11 August 2021 Ethiopia armed group says it has alliance with Tigray forces AP News Archived from the original on 27 October 2021 Retrieved 11 August 2021 Leaked EU Diplomatic Cable Delegation of the European Union to Ethiopia Scoop 25 August 2021 Archived from the original on 13 June 2022 Retrieved 25 August 2021 Kifle Shuwa 16 August 2021 Zerbricht Athiopien im Burgerkrieg heise online in German Archived from the original on 31 May 2022 Retrieved 17 August 2021 The Sidama National Liberation Front to Join the Coalition of Resistance by the Federalist Forces Sidama National Liberation Front 23 August 2021 Archived from the original on 31 March 2022 Retrieved 25 August 2021 Latif Dahir Abdi Jakes Lara 5 November 2021 Eight Groups Join Tigray Rebels Vowing to Oust Ethiopia s Leader The New York Times Archived from the original on 11 July 2022 Retrieved 6 November 2021 An Afar based armed group parts its ways with TPLF led alliance My Views on News 1 February 2022 Archived from the original on 1 February 2022 Retrieved 1 February 2022 Benishangul Gumuz regional govt rebel group sign peace agreement Addis Standard 19 October 2022 Archived from the original on 22 October 2022 Retrieved 22 October 2022 African Union Agreement reached on permanent cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia National Post 2 November 2022 Winning Alexander Cocks Tim 2 November 2022 Combatants in Ethiopia s Tigray war agree to stop fighting Reuters Archived from the original on 25 November 2022 Retrieved 2 November 2022 Feleke Bethlehem 3 November 2022 Warring parties in Ethiopia agree on permanent cessation of hostilities CNN World Archived from the original on 14 November 2022 Retrieved 17 January 2023 Mersie Ayenat 12 November 2022 Ethiopia combatants sign deal to start implementing truce Reuters Archived from the original on 25 July 2023 Retrieved 12 November 2022 Ethiopia Truce Implementation to Start Immediately Mediator Says Asharq AL awsat Archived from the original on 6 April 2023 Retrieved 12 November 2022 Ethiopia s Tigray War A Deadly Dangerous Stalemate Crisis Group 2 April 2021 Archived from the original on 30 July 2021 Retrieved 2 May 2021 Marks Simon Walsh Declan 22 January 2021 On Rooftop of Africa Ethiopia s Troops Hunt Fugitive Former Rulers The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on 30 July 2021 Retrieved 2 May 2021 Wieder Luftangriffe der Armee in Tigray in German Deutsche Welle 9 November 2020 Archived from the original on 19 November 2020 a b Chothia Farouk Bekit Teklemariam 19 October 2022 Ethiopia civil war Hyenas scavenge on corpses as Tigray forces retreat BBC News Archived from the original on 22 October 2022 Walsh Declan 15 December 2021 Ethiopia s Nobel Winning Prime Minister Goes to War The New York Times Retrieved 15 January 2024 Martin Plaut 7 January 2024 The Largest War in the World Hundreds of Thousands Killed in Ethiopia s Tigray Conflict Retrieved 7 January 2024 Ethiopia s Tigray conflict Thousands reported killed in clashes BBC News 6 September 2021 Archived from the original on 20 March 2022 Retrieved 5 September 2021 After battlefield reversals what next for Ethiopia s Tigray war Al Jazeera 10 July 2021 Archived from the original on 16 October 2021 Retrieved 15 October 2021 Aviation Occurrence N 267277 Mig 23 Aviation Safety Network 6 December 2020 Archived from the original on 31 October 2021 Retrieved 6 September 2021 Brhams Jacob 30 November 2020 Tigray Rebels Down Jet Capture Pilot One Day After Ethiopian Prime Minister Declares Victory Overt Defense Archived from the original on 30 November 2020 Retrieved 1 December 2020 TDF downed A Mi 35 helicopter in central Tigray Global Defense Corp 22 April 2021 Archived from the original on 4 November 2021 Retrieved 6 September 2021 Ranter Harro Accident Mil Mi 35 20 Apr 2021 aviation safety net Archived from the original on 12 August 2021 Retrieved 24 April 2021 فيديو قوات دفاع تجراى تسقط مروحية عسكرية اثيوبية وتفتح جبهة قتال جديدة فى محافظة شرق كوجام Video Defense forces shoot down an Ethiopian military helicopter and open a new battle front in East Kojam governorate Farajat in Arabic 12 November 2021 Archived from the original on 6 April 2023 Ethiopia C 130 aircraft downed south of Tigray region monde24 com in Arabic 6 June 2021 Archived from the original on 24 June 2021 Retrieved 6 September 2021 Ethiopia Thousands of Tigray rebels killed military claims BBC News 4 September 2021 Archived from the original on 20 March 2022 Retrieved 5 September 2021 HC a i statement on the killing of 23 aid workers in the Tigray region since the start of the crisis Relief Web 1 September 2020 Archived from the original on 3 September 2021 Retrieved 3 May 2022 a b c d e UNICEF Ethiopia Humanitarian Situation Report No 9 September 2022 ReliefWeb UNICEF 29 October 2022 Archived from the original on 30 October 2022 Ethiopia UN says 20 000 refugees missing in Tigray Al Jazeera Archived from the original on 4 February 2021 a b Paravicini Giulia 20 August 2022 Nearly half the people in Ethiopia s Tigray in severe need of food aid World Food Programme says Reuters Archived from the original on 11 October 2022 War in Tigray may have killed 600 000 people peace mediator says Financial Times Archived from the original on 19 June 2023 Retrieved 16 June 2023 a b c York Geoffrey 21 October 2022 Surge of dehumanizing hate speech points to mounting risk of mass atrocities in northern Ethiopia experts say The Globe and Mail Archived from the original on 22 October 2022 Independent scholars based at Ghent University in Belgium suggest that the death toll in Tigray is now between 385 000 and 600 000 a b c Negash Emnet 24 May 2023 Updated assessment of civilian starvation deaths during the Tigray war Archived from the original on 4 July 2023 Retrieved 4 July 2023 As our estimate of the civilian deaths in the Tigray war is regularly mentioned in the media it seems important to share our evolving understanding and updated lower number of civilian deaths as a result of the Tigray war and blockade We concluded that the IPC FEWS categorization on which our Tigray statistics are mainly based overestimates hunger mortality Along with developing information on the ground this would point to a total number of civilian deaths ranging from 162 000 to 378 000 Ethiopia s Tigray war The short medium and long story BBC News 29 June 2021 Archived from the original on 28 November 2021 Retrieved 29 January 2022 The conflict started on 4 November Inside a military base in Ethiopia s Tigray soldiers decry betrayal by former comrades Reuters 17 December 2020 Archived from the original on 17 December 2020 The government says fighters loyal to the TPLF attacked federal military bases at multiple locations in Tigray early on Nov 4 after jamming communications Lt Gen Bacha Debele said radio communications were cut at 10 00 p m on Nov 3 a b Ethiopia s Tigray crisis How a soldier survived an 11 hour gun battle BBC News 10 December 2020 Archived from the original on 10 December 2020 At around 23 30 on 3 November I and other soldiers received text messages from our comrades at the base saying We are surrounded If you can come and rescue us come Ethiopia war UN investigative Human rights commission debuts 6 day visit Africanews AFP 26 July 2022 Archived from the original on 1 November 2022 Retrieved 1 November 2022 The commission is mandated to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict Ethiopia peace deal hailed as a new dawn Al Jazeera 3 November 2022 Archived from the original on 7 November 2022 Retrieved 7 November 2022 a b c d Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray People s Liberation Front PDF Addis Standard 2 November 2022 Archived from the original PDF on 11 November 2022 This Agreement shall come into effect at 00 00 hours East Africa Time EAT on 3rd November 2022 Paravicini Giulia Endeshaw Dawit 4 November 2020 Ethiopia sends army into Tigray region heavy fighting reported Reuters Archived from the original on 19 November 2020 Exclusive U S thinks Eritrea has joined Ethiopian war diplomats say Reuters 8 December 2020 Archived from the original on 9 December 2020 a b c d e f g Kirby Jen 24 April 2021 Dying by blood or by hunger The war in Ethiopia s Tigray region explained Vox Archived from the original on 27 October 2022 The conflict in Ethiopia Reuters Archived from the original on 19 December 2020 Concern of Outright War in Ethiopia Grows as PM Presses Military Offensive Voice of America Reuters 9 November 2020 Archived from the original on 28 January 2022 Retrieved 28 January 2022 Ethiopia says military operation in Tigray region is over hunt for Tigray leaders begins Reuters 28 November 2020 Archived from the original on 12 January 2021 Ethiopia s Tigray crisis Army takes regional capital of Mekelle BBC News 28 November 2020 Archived from the original on 28 November 2020 Mr Abiy said the army was in full control and that this marks the completion of the military s last phase a b Ethiopia We are in our homeland the invaders are attacking us says Tigray s Gebremichael France 24 15 December 2020 Archived from the original on 16 December 2020 Debretsion Gebremichael told France 24 that Tigray would continue fighting as long as federal invaders are on Tigrayan soil He believes neighbouring Eritrea is playing a key role in the conflict They already have 16 divisions in Tigray They are fighting on the side of the federal army They have a united front against us Wherever you go they are there In Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed s forces have won the battle but not the war The Economist 1 December 2020 ISSN 0013 0613 Archived from the original on 2 December 2020 Ethiopia s government announce ceasefire as Tigrayan troops retake region s capital CNN 28 June 2021 Archived from the original on 28 June 2021 Retrieved 29 June 2021 a b David Evans Angus MacSwan eds 1 November 2021 Tigrayan and Oromo forces say they have seized towns on Ethiopian highway Reuters Archived from the original on 5 November 2021 a b c Wintour Patrick 2 November 2021 Ethiopia declares state of emergency as Tigrayan rebels gain ground The Guardian Archived from the original on 7 November 2021 Parivicini Giulia Flick Maggie 11 August 2021 Giles Elgood Mark Heinrich eds Ethiopia s Tigray forces seek new military alliance Reuters Archived from the original on 1 October 2021 a b Ethiopia declares unilateral truce to allow aid into Tigray Al Jazeera 24 March 2022 Archived from the original on 28 December 2022 Retrieved 24 March 2022 a b Fighting in northern Ethiopia shatters months long truce The Guardian Agence France Presse 24 August 2022 Archived from the original on 11 October 2022 a b Winning Alexander Cocks Tim 2 November 2022 Parties in Ethiopia conflict agree to cease hostilities Reuters Archived from the original on 25 November 2022 Retrieved 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from the original on 11 August 2021 Retrieved 11 August 2021 Ethiopia Tigray on brink of humanitarian disaster UN says The Guardian 14 January 2022 Archived from the original on 16 February 2022 Retrieved 15 February 2022 a b Ethiopia Status of western Tigray to be settled by law CityNews AP 15 November 2022 Archived from the original on 24 November 2022 Retrieved 24 November 2022 a b Rise and fall of Ethiopia s TPLF from rebels to rulers and back The Guardian 25 November 2020 Archived from the original on 15 February 2021 Ethiopia s Hailemariam Desalegn sworn in as prime minister BBC News 21 September 2012 Archived from the original on 19 November 2020 Aalen Lovise 17 February 2018 Analysis Why is Ethiopia in upheaval This brief history explains a lot The Washington Post ISSN 0190 8286 Archived from the original on 19 November 2020 Ethiopia s Hailemariam Desalegn sworn in as prime minister BBC News 21 September 2012 Archived from the original on 19 November 2020 Retrieved 11 November 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as of Oct 05 EDP calls for transitional gov t inclusive dialogue amp reconciliation Addis Standard 29 September 2020 Archived from the original on 24 November 2020 Retrieved 24 November 2020 Hagos Mesfin 4 December 2020 Eritrea s Role in Ethiopia s Conflict and the Fate of Eritrean Refugees in Ethiopia africanarguments org Archived from the original on 7 February 2021 Retrieved 7 February 2021 Abiye Yonas 24 October 2020 Pre conditions impede Commission s reconciliatory efforts The Reporter Archived from the original on 26 December 2020 Retrieved 26 December 2020 Ethiopia s Tigray blocks general s appointment in blow to Abiy Al Jazeera 30 October 2020 Archived from the original on 22 November 2020 Retrieved 5 December 2020 Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia PDF WIPO Archived PDF from the original on 9 November 2020 Retrieved 24 November 2020 Report of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission EHRC Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 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Retrieved 7 April 2021 This conflict has the potential to be devastating Some scholars have warned Ethiopia could break apart in the way Yugoslavia did in the 1990s The government has downplayed the fighting calling it a law enforcement operation Kiya Tsegaye an Ethiopian political analyst says the government has alienated Tigray from its neighbors Abiy has made deals with Eritrea and the new government of Sudan leaving Tigray with few ways to receive the weapons it would need to keep fighting But he says the Tigray forces are no ordinary militia They have dominated the security and the military for almost three decades and they have all the information and the top secrets of this country he says They know the Achilles heel The government alleges that when TPLF fighters attacked their troops last week they also stole missiles that may be able to reach the capital Addis Ababa State of Emergency Inquiry Board Begins Work Ethiopian News Agency 17 November 2020 Archived from the original 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