Ethiopia: Tigray forces push south as Amhara militias mobilise

Forces in Ethiopia’s Tigray pushed deeper into land claimed by neighbouring Amhara region on Tuesday, prompting its leaders – allies of the central government – to urge local militia to arm themselves and mobilise.

The Tigrayan advance and the Amhara response raised the possibility of the widening of a conflict that has aggravated ethnic and political divisions in Africa’s second most populous country.

“Make quick preparations to mobilize to the fronts,” said the statement from the National Movement of Amhara, a regional political party. The call was echoed by some local district governments in Amhara.

The fresh fighting follows a vow by the region’s ruling party – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) – to retake all territory within Tigray’s borders it lost in conflict that broke out between the TPLF and Ethiopian federal forces in November.

The fertile fields of western and southern Tigray are also claimed by the Amhara region, which has been administering it since hostilities erupted in November.

The war pits Tigrayan forces – both formal and irregular – against the Ethiopian military and its allies from Amhara and the neighbouring nation of Eritrea.

Thousands have died, more than 4 million people depend on emergency food aid, and nearly 2 million have been displaced since the conflict began.

On Tuesday, Tigrayan forces crossed the deep gorge of the Tekeze River and took control of the southern town of Mai Tsebri, an aid worker told Reuters.

The aid workers said locals greeted Tigrayan forces with songs, cheers, and celebratory gunfire.

The fighting started overnight, two refugees living in a camp adjacent to the town said, adding that gunfire began around 1am and continued intermittently for about 14 hours.

The spokesman for Tigray’s ruling party, Getachew Reda, said that Tigrayan forces had also seized control of Alamata, the major town in the southern part of Tigray, on Monday night.

Both areas are claimed by Amhara, Ethiopia’s second most populous region.

Olajumoke Adeleke/Reuters