The Ethiopian government has accused Tigrayan forces of resuming fighting on multiple fronts, notably near the country’s western border with Sudan.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, new fronts have opened in the west after Tigrayan offensives in the east near the town of Kobo did not go as planned.
What’s happening
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has also been accused of seeking to “further internationalize the crisis” by sending “tens of thousands of troops” to neighboring Eritrea.
The violence is growing and spreading since it returned last week, shattering a five-month truce.
Digging Deeper
Some of the new fronts mentioned by the government are in western Tigray, which has been controlled by regional forces from neighboring Amhara and federal forces since the first wave of warfare in late 2020.
Tigrayan forces want the territory returned to its pre-war status, while Amhara troops claim it as well, claiming it was included into Tigray when the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) dominated Ethiopia’s political scene.
During the 2020 conflict, over 200 people were massacred in the region along the western Benishangul-Gumuz region, which borders Sudan and South Sudan. 1,100 refugees from Ethiopia’s small Qemant ethnic community also fled to Sudan to escape conflict in Amhara, the Ethiopian area bordering Tigray.
A Different Perspective
The old border dispute between Sudan and Ethiopia over fertile agricultural territory in al-Fashaga is also threatening stability. Both states contend for it.