After Four Years Of Fragile Peace, Ethiopia Flirts With War Again
Renewed fighting between Ethiopian federal forces and Tigrayan units near the Sudanese border has raised concerns about the stability of the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement. The clash marks a significant escalation after four years of fragile peace.
Why it matters
The potential resumption of conflict in Ethiopia threatens regional stability and risks a humanitarian crisis in the Horn of Africa.
On August 1, as Ethiopia’s national dialogue entered its third week, the sound of artillery and drones cast a dark shadow over what was being said in the dialogue’s plenary halls. Fighting erupted before dawn around Shererina, a small town in Tigray near the Sudanese border, between the Ethiopian National Defense Force and Tigrayan forces, including a unit reported to be based across the border in Sudan. The clashes reportedly involved heavy artillery, mechanized units, and drone strikes, lasted roughly eleven hours, and sent hundreds of civilians fleeing across the border into Sudan before a fragile calm returned. Each side blamed the other for firing first. Neither claim has been independently verified.
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