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Adigrat (Fides News Agency) – Nearly a month has passed since fighting resumed in Ethiopia, where an alliance of rebel groups led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has launched a new offensive, reigniting a conflict that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives between 2020 and 2022.
Almost four years after the Pretoria peace agreement was signed in November 2022 (see Fides, 3/11/2022), with the aim of ending the devastating war in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, renewed hostilities, reported in recent weeks, are escalating (see Fides, 30/9/2026). The Ethiopian federal army now controls much of eastern and central Tigray. According to local sources, government forces have also captured Zalambessa, a town of around 15,000 inhabitants on the Ethiopian side of the border with Eritrea.
“As an ecclesial community, we are living under the weight of many pressures, tensions and anxieties. But, by the grace of God, we move forward. The situation does not look particularly promising. In our outposts, however, everything is under control, while sporadic gunfire has been reported in some towns.” This is what a local source told Fides News Agency, requesting anonymity for security reasons.
The renewed fighting is unfolding against a regional backdrop of increasingly tense relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea. After decades of conflict, the two countries signed a peace agreement in 2018. During the Tigray war, Eritrea supported the Ethiopian federal government against TPLF forces. Since then, however, relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have deteriorated once again.
One of the main sources of tension is Ethiopia’s quest for access to the sea. Addis Ababa lost its direct access to the coast when Eritrea gained independence in 1993, after Ethiopia had enjoyed it for decades. The Ethiopian government regards regaining access to the sea as a strategic and vital national interest, while reiterating its intention to pursue this objective through dialogue and peaceful means. The geographical position of the two countries further heightens the significance of the dispute. Control of areas overlooking the Red Sea and the trade routes crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait gives the region considerable geopolitical importance.
Beyond the renewed fighting, the humanitarian situation is a major cause for concern. Hundreds of thousands of people displaced from western Tigray have still been unable to return home, leaving around 44 per cent of the region’s most fertile agricultural land inaccessible. In north-western, central and eastern areas where some farmers have managed to return, they have found farms and communities devastated by years of war.
Adverse weather conditions have compounded the crisis. The first seasonal rains ended almost a month earlier than usual, compromising seed germination and causing crops to wither in numerous districts. The rains needed for the spring harvest, meanwhile, arrived more than five weeks late in eastern and southern areas, with some areas experiencing periods of drought lasting more than a month.
The agricultural toll has been severe: more than 252,500 hectares of crops have been destroyed, while 140 districts are facing conditions described as catastrophic. More than 3.5 million livestock are also at risk of dying from hunger and disease following the disappearance of seasonal grazing lands and the depletion of groundwater reserves.
The failure of the September harvest and the collapse in the livestock-to-cereal terms of trade have further exacerbated the crisis. According to the September humanitarian report issued by the Tigray Disaster Risk Management Commission (DRMC), 3.9 million people—more than half the region’s population—were in immediate need of emergency food assistance. The threat of another famine is once again looming over Tigray.
The situation was made even more desperate by events in Mekelle during the first weekend of October. As federal forces advanced towards the regional capital, coalition forces abandoned government buildings and police stations across the city. For around 24 hours, Mekelle was left in the grip of a serious power vacuum.
Armed groups, reportedly made up largely of prisoners released after a nearby prison was abruptly abandoned, stormed and looted government buildings, post offices, art galleries and facilities providing assistance to the population.
Particularly serious was the looting of infrastructure dedicated to the humanitarian response. Armed groups ransacked DRMC offices and warehouses belonging to the regional body responsible for coordinating relief operations and ensuring the provision of essential goods and services to the population.
(AP) (Fides News Agency, 14/10/2026)
