Eritrea: Ethiopia Accuses Sudan, Eritrea of Backing Tigray Forces As Fighting Escalates

What the report says

Ethiopia has accused Sudan and Eritrea, and also named Egypt, of supporting armed groups fighting federal forces in the country’s north, according to reporting by Radio France Internationale distributed by AllAfrica. The accusations were made as clashes intensified between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, raising concern that the country could slide back toward wider conflict. Sudan rejected the allegations, calling them baseless, while Eritrea and Egypt did not immediately comment in the article.

The fighting reportedly resumed last week and spread beyond Tigray into neighboring Afar and Amhara regions. A humanitarian source cited by the report said TPLF fighters took the town of Erebti in Afar and moved farther east, while local communications disruptions made it difficult to confirm conditions on the ground. The article also said the town of Afdeera could be at risk, and that large numbers of civilians had been displaced in Afar.

The report places the latest unrest in the context of Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 war in Tigray, which ended with the Pretoria peace agreement but left major issues unresolved. Background in the article suggests the deal was never fully implemented, and that communications and basic services have again been disrupted in Tigray. The renewed fighting matters because it threatens civilian safety, humanitarian access and key transport routes connecting Ethiopia to Djibouti.