Hundreds flee fighting in northern Ethiopia as fears rise of return to civil war

Hundreds of Ethiopians from the Tigray region have crossed into neighbouring Sudan following fighting between regional forces and the Ethiopian army over the weekend. In one of the most serious confrontations since the end of the civil war in the area four years ago, intense clashes broke out on Saturday morning in Shererina, near the border with Sudan. A member of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) said the violence, which continued into Sunday, involved heavy artillery and drones.

The two-year civil war in northern Ethiopian between the TPLF and the federal government, which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, ended with an African Union-brokered peace deal in 2022. There are also concerns that the fighting could become a proxy for the Sudanese civil war, with accusations that the warring parties there are backing opposing sides in Ethiopia. Both the TPLF and the federal authorities blamed each other for Saturday’s clashes. The federal government and the federal army have not issued an official statement but minister Abraham Belay confirmed that clashes had occurred.