Ethiopia Truce Ends With New Fighting Between Govt, Tigray Forces

Rebels in the Tigray region of Ethiopia have accused the central government in Addis Ababa, and militias aligned with them, of launching what they call a “large-scale offensive” on Wednesday August 25, 2022. The government in Addis Ababa did not immediately respond to the claims by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) but later said Tigrayan rebels had initiated an offensive.

In a statement and on Twitter, World Food Program Executive Director David Beasely criticized the seizure of fuel from the WFP compound in Mekelle and demanded “Tigrayan Authorities return these fuel stocks to the humanitarian community immediately.”

In a statement, the Government Communications Service said the Tigrayan rebels “launched an attack”, giving the same time as the insurgents had earlier given for the onset of fresh fighting.

The Ethiopian government says that it shot down a plane which is said was transporting weapons to the TPLF. The National Defence Force said the plane entered Ethiopia’s airspace via Sudan.

Deutsche Welle reports that it was not possible to independently verify the claims made by the TPLF, or later by the Ethiopian government, due to the information blackout in that part of the country. The United Nations, the African Union and the United States have all expressed concern at the reports.

The claim of a fresh offensive comes five months after the TPLF and the Ethiopian government reached a truce after more than a year of a brutal war that began in November 2020.