Ethiopian government set to end ceasefire in Tigray

The conflict in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray looks set to intensify, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed indicated that a government ceasefire would end.

And the neighbouring Amhara region has said it will go on the offensive against Tigrayan forces.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has recaptured most of its home region in the past three weeks, vowed to retake western Tigray, an expanse of fertile territory controlled by Amhara forces who seized it during the conflict.

Mr Abiy abruptly pulled government troops out of most of Tigray last month after announcing a unilateral ceasefire the TPLF said was designed to justify his forces’ retreat.

But on Wednesday, Mr Abiy said the government would send troops back to Tigray because the ceasefire had failed.

In Amhara, a regional government spokesman said authorities were rallying their own troops for a counter-attack against Tigrayan forces.

“The regional government has now transitioned from defensive to offensive,” Gizachew Muluneh said.

“Amhara militia and special forces have been systematically trying to defend, but now our patience has run out and, as of today, we have opened an offensive attack.”

Western Tigray has long been home to large populations of Tigrayans and Amhara.

Renewed fighting between two of Ethiopia’s biggest ethnic groups over the territory could drive another wave of refugees from a conflict that has forced two million people from their homes.

When Mr Abiy sent troops to fight against the TPLF last year, Amhara militia fought on the central government’s side, using the opportunity to take control of territory administered by Tigrayans for decades.

Since Mr Abiy’s withdrawal on June 28, the TPLF has pushed outwards, recapturing most of Tigray.

Its forces regained control of Alamata, the main town in the south, on Monday and pushed across the ravine of the Tekeze River to take the town of Mai Tsebri from Amhara control on Tuesday.

But a tougher fight could be in store in western Tigray, which the Amhara consider part of their own homeland.

Mr Abiy has suggested his government was ending its ceasefire only three weeks after it was agreed to when government troops abandoned regional capital Mekele.

“The ceasefire could not bear the desired fruits,” Mr Abiy said. “The TPLF poses a great danger to the sovereignty of the country. The federal government, through mobilising the people of Ethiopia, is determined to curb this threat.”

He accused the TPLF of recruiting, drugging and sending child soldiers into battle.

TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda dismissed the claim.

“We don’t have child soldiers because mature soldiers are never in short supply,” he said.

Caught in the middle of the fighting are 23,000 Eritrean refugees sheltering in two camps near Mai Tsebri. One refugee from Adi Harush camp said Tigrayan militia were searching refugees’ homes and confiscating mobile phones.

“There is still shooting all around the camp,” he said.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says troops will return to Tigray because the ceasefire has failed