Clashes reported between Ethiopian forces and Tigrayan rebels in Afar
Humanitarian and security sources told AFP that fighting broke out in Abala and Erebti in Ethiopia’s Afar region, raising fears of a renewed conflict. The TPLF’s former senior official claimed opposition forces had taken several locations, while the federal government’s position was not included.
Fighting has broken out between Ethiopian federal forces and Tigrayan rebels in the Afar region, according to humanitarian sources cited by AFP. An NGO source said clashes had taken place since the previous night in Abala and Erebti. Another humanitarian source and a foreign security source confirmed fighting in the two locations, AFP reported.
The NGO source said aid workers had sent a truck carrying food to assist people displaced by the violence. A former senior Tigray People’s Liberation Front official, who remains influential, claimed that opposition forces had taken Berhale, Erebti, Abala, Megale, Dalul and Konoba. He also said federal troops were retreating rapidly.
AFP did not provide an independent verification of those claims. Abala is in mountain ranges near the border between Afar and Tigray, while Erebti is about 100 kilometres by road from Abala inside Afar, according to the report. The clashes follow the TPLF’s reported inclusion, three days earlier, in a new alliance of armed anti-government groups from across Ethiopia.
The TPLF fought the federal government in the 2020-2022 civil war, which African Union estimates put at about 600,000 deaths. Sporadic clashes in recent months had already raised fears of renewed war. The supplied report did not include a statement from the Ethiopian government or verified casualty figures.
This independently written report is based on information supplied by the named publisher. Vertrix News has not independently verified the source report.