Fighting in northern Ethiopia has intensified and spread beyond Tigray, with government-aligned forces and Tigrayan fighters battling across three regions almost four years after a peace deal ended the country’s devastating two-year war.
Government-aligned forces say they captured the strategic town of Alamata in southern Tigray on September 28, while Tigrayan forces have advanced into neighbouring Afar. Fighting has also been reported in Amhara.
Telecommunications have been cut across much of Tigray and commercial flights suspended, leaving families separated and disrupting humanitarian operations.
Fighting spreads across Tigray, Amhara and Afar
There are several active fronts rather than one continuous battlefield. Alamata, about 120km south of the Tigrayan regional capital Mekelle, is a supply hub for troops, fuel and food near the border with Amhara.
Between 15 and 17 drone strikes hit Alamata on September 22, including several schools and a hospital, according to the conflict monitor ACLED.
A separate front has opened near the Tekeze River in western Tigray, an area disputed between Tigray and Amhara. Fighting has also reached northern Amhara, around Kobo and Gidan in North Wello zone and Sekota in Wag Hemra zone, which government forces retook on September 27.
Further east, Tigrayan forces and the Afar armed group Ugugumo have advanced into Afar. Clashes have been reported along the Tigray-Afar border and around Erebti and Abala.
The advance could threaten the Semera-Djibouti corridor, Ethiopia’s main route for imports, including fuel.
Ethiopia’s army chief has accused Eritrea, Sudan’s army and Egypt of backing armed groups. All three countries have denied the allegations, while Egypt said it strictly respects the sovereignty of neighbouring states.
The alliance challenging Abiy Ahmed
The latest escalation follows the announcement on September 20 of an alliance of seven Ethiopian armed and political groups seeking to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and establish an inclusive transitional administration.
The Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival is led militarily by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF. The organisation dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018, and war broke out between the TPLF and federal forces in November 2020.
The alliance also includes the Amhara Fano National Movement, a coalition of Fano factions that turned against Abiy’s government in 2023 after fighting alongside federal forces during the Tigray war.
Other named members are the Oromo Liberation Army, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, Ugugumo, the Benishangul Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement. The Sidama National Liberation Front said on September 25 that it would join.
However, the alliance’s membership is disputed. The Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement has denied joining, saying it has no armed wing, while the ONLF is divided between a faction supporting the alliance and another that says it is not part of it.
The Oromo Liberation Army has indicated that its main aim is removing the government rather than taking part in coordinated military operations. ACLED said only the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement and Ugugumo were actively fighting federal forces as of September 26.
In its founding statement, the alliance accused the government of “dictatorial rule” and said a transitional government would end the country’s wars, protect rights and open a national dialogue.
How the latest escalation began
The renewed conflict reflects political and territorial disputes left unresolved after the 2020-2022 Tigray war. The TPLF and the federal government remain divided over political control, security and disputed territory.
Clashes between Tigrayan and federal forces began near the Sudanese border on August 1, according to ACLED, followed by federal drone strikes and Tigrayan troop deployments.
In September, Tigrayan forces moved tanks and artillery south, alongside reports of renewed recruitment and forced mobilisation in Tigray.
Fighting escalated sharply on September 23, when Tigrayan forces seized airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire and pushed into Afar and Amhara. The government described the operation as an “all-out offensive”, while the TPLF said it was fighting a “defensive war” and accused federal forces of using aircraft, drones and artillery.
Ethiopia is divided into 12 regional states and two chartered cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. Its federal system largely follows ethnic and linguistic divisions in a country with more than 80 ethnic groups, including the Oromo, Amhara, Somali, Tigrayan and Sidama.
