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Africa Horn
A new Ethiopian-Tigrayan war has begun
2026-09-27
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited

Tex taken from a Telegram channel

Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.

[ColonelCassad] Ethiopia's war has resumed. Once again, independent Tigray is pitted against the central government.
Not-independent Tigray, actually. That’s what the Tigrayans object to.
A new Ethiopian-Tigrayan war has begun. On September 23, Tigray armed forces (the Tigray Defense Forces, TDF) allied with the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seized the Alula Abba Negi International Airport in the regional capital of Mekelle and two other airports in the region.

Following this, Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to Mekelle, Axum, and Shire. The TDF and its allies began fighting on three fronts, with the main fighting taking place along the border between Tigray and Afar states.

Paradoxically, this time, they were joined by the TPLF's former bitter adversaries, the Amhara National Movement (Fano), and Eritrea. TPLF Vice Chairman Amanuel Assefa declared Tigray "in a state of full-scale war" with the federal government.

Getachew Reda, adviser to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on East African affairs and former interim regional president, accused the TPLF/CLF of a "large-scale offensive" against Afar and Amhara states and accused Eritrea and Egypt of supporting the rebels. Although the Pretoria Accords signed in November 2022 halted the bloodshed in Tigray, the country has been far from peaceful for the past four years.

During this time, federal forces have been conducting operations against the Fano militia in Amhara state and against the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) in Oromia. Preparations for military action in Tigray have also been in full swing. In May 2026, the TPLF restored the regional government in Mekelle, which had been in place until 2020, and began mobilization efforts to force recruits into the Tigray Liberation Front (TLF).

One of the reasons for this was the stalled negotiation process: the TPLF sought to regain control over the seized territories in western and southern Tigray, the return of refugees, and federal transfers. For its part, Addis Ababa sought the disarmament of the Tigray Liberation Front/TPLF, which, amid mutual mistrust, failed to materialize.

On August 1, fighting resumed in Western Tigray, a region that was previously part of Tigray State but is now occupied by Amhara paramilitary forces. These include the woredas (districts) of Wolqait, Tsegade, and Humera, which have experienced a mass exodus of ethnic Tigrayans since 2020.

The unrecognized "Wolqait-Tsegade-Setit-Humera Interim Administration" includes local nationalists (the Amhara Self-Determination Committee in Wolqait and Tsegade, active since August 2015, and the armed movement "Tekezeh Zeb" (Amh. ተከዜ ዘብ - "Tekezeh Guards"), as well as Amhara officials from the regional branch of the Prosperity Party and associated businessmen.

The federal government is believed to be allowing Amhara regional authorities to encourage the resettlement of ethnic Amhara from Gondar and other regions to Western Tigray through subsidies and benefits. Furthermore, Amhara militias hold the Tselemt woreda (in northwestern Tigray), as well as the Raya Azebo and Alamata woredas (in southern Tigray).

However, Western Tigray—a major agricultural region producing sesame, millet, and soybeans, and a strategically important area on the border with Sudan and Eritrea—is the stumbling block in relations between the TPLF and Addis Ababa, and regaining control over it plays a key role in any TPLF strategic plans.

In the coming years, we will see many new and new/old wars. The re-division of the world is in full swing.
Related:
Ethiopia: 2026-09-26 Good Morning
Ethiopia: 2026-09-26 Ethiopian army reports 272 rebel fighters killed after failed offensive
Ethiopia: 2026-09-25 'I'm your best friend.' Israel has started another civil war in Africa.
Related:
Tigray: 2026-09-26 Ethiopian army reports 272 rebel fighters killed after failed offensive
Tigray: 2026-09-21 Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce anti-government alliance
Tigray: 2026-09-20 US removes sanctions on Eritrean Defense Forces
Related:
Mekelle: 2026-06-13 Ethiopia Warns of Fresh Tigray War, Says TPLF Readying Major Attack on Army Bases
Mekelle: 2026-05-09 TPLF reinstated the pre-Tigray war regional government, effectively voiding the Pretoria peace agreement
Mekelle: 2025-01-07 Tigray Muslims protest ban of hijab in schools
Related:
Amhara: 2026-09-26 Ethiopian army reports 272 rebel fighters killed after failed offensive
Amhara: 2026-09-21 Seven Ethiopian armed groups announce anti-government alliance
Amhara: 2026-09-13 Fano claims capture of more than 150 Ethiopian soldiers in Amhara clashes
Related:
Eritrea: 2026-09-25 'I'm your best friend.' Israel has started another civil war in Africa.
Eritrea: 2026-09-20 US removes sanctions on Eritrean Defense Forces
Eritrea: 2026-09-15 Eritrea accuses UAE of port-based colonialism in Africa
Related:
Western Tigray: 2023-06-02 Ethiopia: 'ethnic cleansing' continues in Tigray despite peace agreement, says HRW
Posted by:badanov

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