By HAN News Desk
ADDIS ABABA — Tensions have flared once again in northern Ethiopia after fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reportedly launched a heavy assault inside the Afar region, officials have said.
According to a statement released by the Afar Regional Communication Office, TPLF forces crossed the regional border and attacked civilian areas using heavy weapons, including artillery and anti-aircraft guns.
“The TPLF group, which has failed to learn from its past mistakes, crossed into Afar territory today and carried out attacks using heavy weapons such as mortars and Zu-23 guns against civilians,” the statement said.
Local officials said the attack took place in Toonsa and Milkii villages, in Magale district, where the fighters allegedly opened fire on farmers and residents. The shelling caused panic among civilians, many of whom fled their homes in fear of renewed violence.
“The TPLF fighters crossed the border and opened fire on innocent farmers going about their daily work. The attacks have terrorised the local population,” the Afar communication office added.
The regional authorities have accused the TPLF of deliberately targeting civilians — a tactic that, according to them, violates international humanitarian law and undermines efforts to stabilise the region.
The Afar authorities condemned the attack as a clear violation of the Pretoria peace agreement, which was signed in November 2022 between the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF to end a two-year brutal civil war in the Tigray region.
“By firing heavy weapons into civilian areas, the TPLF has once again breached the Pretoria peace deal and demonstrated that it is not fully committed to peace,” the regional statement read.
The peace accord, mediated by the African Union in South Africa, was intended to disarm TPLF fighters, restore federal authority in Tigray, and allow humanitarian access to war-affected areas. However, recent incidents along the borders of Afar, Amhara, and Tigray have raised fears that the truce may be weakening.
Afar Elders Tried to Negotiate
Local reports indicate that community elders from Afar attempted to mediate and convince the TPLF forces to withdraw peacefully before hostilities erupted.
“When the TPLF troops entered the border area, Afar elders appealed to them to turn back to avoid conflict. The fighters refused and instead launched the attack,” the statement said.
The incident has further strained relations between Afar communities and Tigray authorities, who had both suffered heavily during the previous conflict.
While the regional government confirmed that civilians were affected, no official casualty figures have yet been released. The Afar authorities said an assessment is underway to determine the scale of the damage and the number of people displaced by the fighting.
“If the TPLF does not cease its aggressive actions, the Afar administration will be forced to take necessary measures to defend its people and territorial integrity,” the statement warned.
The latest incident comes amid growing instability in several parts of Ethiopia. Apart from the TPLF’s resurgence in the north, the federal government is also battling armed groups in Amhara and Oromia, where clashes between regional militias and government forces have intensified over the past year.
Analysts say the renewed violence underscores Ethiopia’s fragile peace and the challenges Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government faces in maintaining national unity and stability.
“The situation reflects deep-rooted grievances and mistrust among Ethiopia’s regions,” said one regional analyst in Addis Ababa. “Unless genuine political dialogue resumes, sporadic clashes like this could easily reignite broader conflict.”
The TPLF, which once dominated Ethiopia’s ruling coalition for nearly three decades, went to war with the federal government in November 2020. The conflict killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions, and created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Although the Pretoria Agreement officially ended the war, tensions have persisted over disarmament, governance, and control of disputed areas along Tigray’s borders. The Afar region, which borders Tigray to the east, was one of the hardest-hit during the war, with entire communities destroyed and thousands displaced.
While both the federal government and the TPLF have expressed commitment to peace in principle, renewed clashes such as the latest attack in Afar suggest that the path to lasting stability remains uncertain.
Observers warn that without concrete political and security reforms, Ethiopia risks sliding back into cycles of violence that could further destabilise the Horn of Africa.
