Nairobi (Reuters) – After several months of ceasefire, fighting has broken out again in the northern Ethiopian crisis region of Tigray, according to the conflicting parties.
The government and the People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which controls Tigray, accused each other of violating the ceasefire on Wednesday. Since the morning shots of heavy artillery have been heard around the village of Kobo, said a farmer who wished to remain anonymous. Two other residents said there had been major troop movements in the area in the past two days.
The government press office said the TPLF had attacked the eastern front early in the morning, effectively breaking the ceasefire. The TPLF military command, however, accused the government of violating the ceasefire. Tigrai Television reported that Ethiopian forces, together with special forces and militias from the neighboring Amhara region, began a “large-scale attack” early in the morning.
In November 2020, war broke out in Tigray, which also spread to neighboring regions. A mutually respected ceasefire has been in place since March, fueling hopes that peace talks could begin between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and the TPLF. Fighting in Africa’s second most populous nation has displaced millions, killed thousands of civilians and plunged parts of Tigray into famine.
(Nairobi office, written by Christian Rüttger, edited by Kerstin Dörr. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected] (for politics and economics) or [email protected] (for companies and markets ).)