Tigray rebels accuse Ethiopia of drone strikes amid fears of renewed war

By Dominic Wabwireh with AFP

Tigray rebel authorities have accused Ethiopia’s federal government of carrying out deadly drone strikes in the region, raising fears of a renewed conflict nearly four years after a peace deal ended a devastating two-year war.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front said Tuesday that Ethiopian government forces carried out a drone strike Monday in Merewa, in southern Tigray near the border with the Amhara region.

Amanuel Assefa, a TPLF official, told AFP that the strike was carried out by the Ethiopian government.

In a statement, the TPLF said the strikes targeted Tigrayan troops and caused casualties, but gave no figures.

The Ethiopian federal army had not responded to AFP’s request for comment at the time of publication.

Amanuel also claimed that a high school was hit in the strikes, a claim AFP could not independently verify.

Forces mass along border

The accusations come as federal and Tigrayan forces have been gathering on opposite sides of the border for months.

Both sides have accused the other of preparing to reignite the conflict that devastated the northern region between 2020 and 2022.

The TPLF said fighting also broke out on August 1 between federal forces and its troops in northwestern Tigray, near the Sudanese border.

The federal government has not publicly commented on that reported clash.

The latest developments have heightened concerns that tensions could once again spiral into open warfare.

Fragile peace under strain

Tigray, home to around six million people, was the scene of a brutal two-year conflict between TPLF forces and Ethiopia’s federal army, which was backed by local militias and Eritrean troops.

The war ended with a peace agreement signed in November 2022.

An African Union estimate put the death toll at at least 600,000, making the conflict one of Africa’s deadliest in recent decades.

But the peace deal left several contentious issues unresolved.

The return of displaced people and the disarmament of TPLF forces remain incomplete, while territorial disputes continue to fuel tensions.

Fears of another conflict

The latest reported drone strikes add to growing concerns over the durability of the peace agreement.

Months of military mobilisation along Tigray’s borders and renewed clashes have raised fears that unresolved political and territorial disputes could push the region back towards war.

For civilians who endured years of fighting, displacement and humanitarian hardship, the renewed tensions threaten to reopen wounds left by one of Ethiopia’s most devastating conflicts.