Ethiopian troops fought through the night to repel an offensive by Tigrayan rebels in the Afar region, a humanitarian source said today, as reports emerged of an internet blackout across the country’s north.
Forces from the northern Tigray region seized several local airports and pushed into neighbouring Afar and Amhara this week, declaring that they were once again locked in a “full-blown war” with Ethiopia’s federal government.
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The renewed fighting has revived fears of the communications blackout and supply siege imposed on Tigray during the 2020-2022 civil war, a conflict that killed an estimated 600,000 people.
Internet monitor Netblocks reported an “internet disruption in northern Ethiopia corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in Tigray”. AFP was unable to reach sources in the region by telephone today.
“The federal forces pushed the rebels from entering the town,” the source said, adding that the army had deployed a drone.
Heavy fighting was reported yesterday in North Wollo Zone, Amhara, including near Lalibela, the UNESCO World Heritage site renowned for its rock-hewn churches.
Analysts believe the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is reviving the strategy it used during the previous war: advancing south through Amhara toward the capital, Addis Ababa. The offensive in Afar, they say, may be intended to disrupt supply lines from Djibouti, the entry point for almost all of Ethiopia’s international trade cargo, including fuel.
The TPLF has joined forces with six other armed groups from across the country in an attempt to topple Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
“The alliance is likely trying to seize settlements alongside key infrastructure routes to undermine federal government’s ability to supply,” said Edward Bach of consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft.
People in Mekelle queue to purchase SIM cards after communications disruption
The federal government nevertheless holds a substantial military advantage, supported by a vast drone arsenal, an army of roughly 500,000 troops and backing from external powers, particularly the United Arab Emirates.
The fighting has erupted at a politically difficult moment for the United States, which lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea this month over atrocities committed during the previous civil war, declaring that the “national emergency… has expired”.
The US embassy backed Ethiopia’s government this week, saying it was “disappointed to see the leadership of the TPLF… launch a large-scale offensive”.
The conflict also risks pulling in neighbouring Eritrea, which fears that landlocked Ethiopia could be preparing an invasion to secure access to the Red Sea.
Panic buying
In Tigray, meanwhile, residents rushed to secure essential supplies as the cost of basic goods climbed sharply.
“There is panic in the community,” said Samuel Gebreslassie, 37, who works at a spice shop in Mekelle, the regional capital, yesterday.
“There is deep fear that banks, telecom networks, electricity and basic goods could be cut off again.”
The TPLF governed all of Ethiopia from 1991 until 2018, when Abiy’s rise pushed it from power and eventually helped set the stage for a civil war marked by widespread war crimes and sexual violence.
The 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement brought an uneasy lull that lasted until last year, but key provisions were never fully carried out and about one million people remain displaced.
Clashes later began to flare again, with federal forces carrying out several drone strikes in Tigray in recent months while concentrating troops along the border.
Rights groups have accused the TPLF of forcibly recruiting people this year as it prepared for a renewed confrontation.
