Ethiopia’s Afar region says it came under attack from forces of the neighbouring Tigray region, which seized control of villages and bombed civilians, in the latest sign of internal conflict in the fractured nation.
Rebels in the northern Tigray region fought a devastating civil war against the central government from 2020 to 2022 in which an estimated 600,000 people died, and relations with the capital and other regions remain tense.
On Wednesday, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) “entered Afar territory and forcefully took control of six villages, bombarding civilians with mortars and (heavy artillery),” the Afar regional administration said in a statement.
The TPLF has not yet responded to requests for comment from AFP and it was not possible to independently verify the statement.
A source in a humanitarian agency, who requested anonymity to speak to AFP, confirmed the attacks took place and said fighting had ended by late Wednesday.
“Many people were displaced. I have not heard of any casualties,” the source said.
The Afar authorities said Tigrayan forces attacked Megale district in Afar and “proceeded to open heavy weaponry fire on civilian pastoralists”, warning that it would “undertake its defensive duty to protect itself” if attacks continued.
– ‘Path to war’ –
Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor at Oslo New University College and specialist on the region, told AFP it was not yet clear what triggered the latest skirmish.
But he said Ethiopia has been on a “path to war” for months, with the lines hardening between Tigray and the federal government.
The TPLF dominated Ethiopian politics from 1991 to 2018 until it was sidelined with the rise to power of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
In May, the TPLF was banned from political activity by the Electoral Commission over a technicality.
Last month, the central government accused the TPLF, in a letter to the United Nations, of forging ties with neighbouring Eritrea and “actively preparing to wage war against Ethiopia”.
Its finance ministry also cancelled the disbursement of more than 2 billion birrs ($13.1 million) to Tigray.
“Unfortunately, much of the budget allocated to Tigray is being diverted for military purposes, which harms the region and leaves ordinary people suffering,” Abiy told parliament last week.
The Tigray region, home to around 6 million people, is financially drained, and some one million people remain displaced from the 2020-22 war.
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