Tigrayan leaders say new war with Ethiopian government has begun, as fighting erupts提格雷领导人称，与埃塞俄比亚政府之间的新战争已经开始，战斗已经爆发。
The leaders of the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray said on Wednesday that they had entered a new war with the federal government as fighting broke out in Tigray and two neighboring regions, shattering a four-year-old peace deal.
Tiksa Negeri/Reuters
The leaders of the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray said on Wednesday that they had entered a new war with the federal government as fighting broke out in Tigray and two neighboring regions, shattering a four-year-old peace deal.
A 2020-2022 civil war between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and federal forces resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths before the Pretoria Agreement was signed in November 2022.
The outbreak of new fighting follows months of growing animosity between the two sides, capped by Sunday’s announcement that the TPLF had formed an alliance with six other armed groups from across Ethiopia aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
“Following the intensification of the invasion conducted through various methods by Abiy Ahmed’s autocratic and genocidal Prosperity regime against the people of Tigray… the Tigray National Regional Government announced that the Tigray Forces have been instructed to counter the attack and have entered a defensive war,” the TPLF-led regional administration said in a statement.
Getachew Reda, an adviser to Abiy and a former TPLF official, wrote on X that the TPLF had seized control of federally controlled airports in Tigray and launched an “all out offensive” against government positions in the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara.
Ethiopian Airlines suspended flights to the region.
Four sources, including a senior Ethiopian government official, a diplomatic source, a humanitarian source and another source with links to the TPLF and an allied militia, confirmed the developments in Tigray, Afar and Amhara.
They said that in Afar, Tigrayan forces were fighting alongside a local armed group, and that in Amhara, they were fighting alongside the Fano militia.
Fano sided with the federal government during the 2020-2022 war, but rose up against it in 2023. It is a member of the new alliance with the TPLF.
Spokespeople for Abiy, the federal government and the TPLF did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The federal government has accused the TPLF of violating the Pretoria Agreement and seeking to create chaos.
Abiy’s spokesperson, Billene Seyoum, told Reuters on Monday that members of the newly announced alliance had been collaborating for a while with the financial backing of Ethiopia’s neighbor and historic adversary Eritrea.
Eritrea has repeatedly denied accusations it supports Ethiopian armed groups. Its information minister declined to comment on Wednesday about the latest developments.
蒂克萨·内格里/路透社
埃塞俄比亚北部提格雷地区的领导人周三表示，他们已与联邦政府开战，因为提格雷及其两个邻近地区爆发了战斗，打破了一项已有四年历史的和平协议。
2020-2022 年提格雷人民解放阵线 (TPLF) 与联邦军队之间的内战导致数十万人死亡，直到 2022 年 11 月签署了《比勒陀利亚协议》。
新一轮冲突爆发之前，双方的敌意已经持续数月，而周日提格雷人民解放阵线宣布与埃塞俄比亚各地其他六个武装团体结盟，旨在推翻总理阿比·艾哈迈德的政府，更是将这种敌意推向了高潮。
“随着阿比·艾哈迈德的独裁种族灭绝政权通过各种手段加强对提格雷人民的入侵……提格雷民族地区政府宣布，已指示提格雷部队反击此次进攻，并已进入防御战状态，”提格雷人民解放阵线领导的地区政府在一份声明中表示。
阿比的顾问、前提格雷人民解放阵线官员格塔丘·雷达在X上写道，提格雷人民解放阵线已经控制了提格雷州联邦政府控制的机场，并对邻近的阿法尔州和阿姆哈拉州的政府阵地发动了“全面进攻”。
埃塞俄比亚航空公司暂停了飞往该地区的航班。
包括一名埃塞俄比亚高级政府官员、一名外交消息人士、一名人道主义消息人士和另一名与提格雷人民解放阵线及其盟军民兵有联系的消息人士在内的四名消息人士证实了提格雷州、阿法尔州和阿姆哈拉州的事态发展。
他们说，在阿法尔，提格雷军队与当地武装团体并肩作战；在阿姆哈拉，他们与法诺民兵并肩作战。
在 2020-2022 年的战争期间，法诺站在联邦政府一边，但在 2023 年起义反抗联邦政府。它是与提格雷人民解放阵线 (TPLF) 结成的新联盟的成员。
周三，阿比总理、联邦政府和提格雷人民解放阵线（TPLF）的发言人均未立即回应置评请求。联邦政府指责提格雷人民解放阵线违反了《比勒陀利亚协议》，并企图制造混乱。
阿比的发言人比莱内·塞尤姆周一告诉路透社，新宣布成立的联盟成员已经合作了一段时间，并得到了埃塞俄比亚的邻国和历史宿敌厄立特里亚的财政支持。
厄立特里亚一再否认支持埃塞俄比亚武装团体的指控。该国新闻部长周三拒绝就最新事态发展发表评论。