(AP) – The interim government of Ethiopia’s Tigray region has called on the Ethiopian federal government to intervene after a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) seized control of two major towns. The takeover left several people wounded and raised fears of a renewed civil war.
On Tuesday, the TPLF faction took control of Adigrat, Tigray’s second-largest town, and installed a new administrator, removing the official loyal to the interim government. By Wednesday night, the faction had also seized Adi-Gudem, a town near the regional capital, Mekele. During the takeover, several individuals in Adi-Gudem suffered gunshot wounds as armed forces attempted to occupy a government building.
The TPLF previously waged a brutal two-year war against Ethiopian federal forces, which ended in November 2022 with the signing of a peace agreement and the establishment of a TPLF-led interim government. The conflict, which began in November 2020, is estimated to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, displaced millions, and left many on the brink of famine in Africa’s second-most populous country.
However, divisions within the TPLF have deepened since the war’s conclusion. In October, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael expelled the head of the interim government, Getachew Reda, along with four members of his cabinet.
In response, Reda, who played a key role as the chief negotiator of the peace agreement, temporarily suspended four senior military commanders whom he believed were aligned with Gebremichael’s faction.
“The region may be on the brink of another crisis,” the Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau, a branch of the interim government, warned in a statement issued Wednesday.
Reda has characterized the recent actions by the TPLF faction as a “potential coup attempt.”
In a televised interview, he urged the international community—one of the key guarantors of the Pretoria Peace Agreement—to closely monitor the escalating situation in the conflict-ridden region.
“The parties to the Pretoria Agreement should really take into account the deteriorating situation in Tigray and the far-reaching ramifications of the unraveling of the Pretoria agreements,” Reda stated.
Meanwhile, TPLF deputy chairman Amanuel Assefa dismissed concerns that the developments violated the peace deal. Speaking to The Associated Press, he emphasized that the current crisis is primarily a law enforcement matter.
“The TPLF and the Tigray forces are the rightful owners of the Pretoria Agreement. Therefore, there is no reason to engage in any actions that would violate that,” he said.
