The Tigray People's Liberation Front declared that it had entered an “all-out war” against the Ethiopian government, as the federal army said 272 fighters had been killed in battles and an attack in the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia. The escalation came days after seven opposition groups announced the formation of an alliance aimed at ousting the authorities in Addis Ababa.
Amanuel Assefa, deputy head of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, said: “We are now in a state of all-out war,” adding that “there are battles everywhere”. He confirmed that fighting was continuing in the Amhara and Afar regions, where the front's fighters are engaged in clashes alongside other local groups. The Ethiopian federal army, meanwhile, announced that hundreds of fighters had been killed in the battles and attack in Amhara, putting the death toll at 272.
Airports and flights halted in Tigray
Renewed clashes between the government and the front have raised fears of another large-scale war, less than four years after a peace agreement ended the Tigray war. Tigray authorities said on Wednesday that they had taken control of the region's three airports. Ethiopian Airlines, the national carrier and the only airline serving the area, also suspended flights to and from Tigray.
A humanitarian source in the area said on Thursday that Yalo village, near the Tigray border, had come under heavy weapons fire as fighters from the Tigray People's Liberation Front sought to take control of it. The source said people had been injured and some residents displaced by the shelling.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, Ethiopian President Taye Atske Selassie attacked what he described as “forces of destruction and chaos” and spoke of “the intervention of hostile elements in our internal affairs”. This comes as concerns grow that the conflict inside Ethiopia could develop into a broader regional dispute involving neighbouring countries.
Opposition alliance reshapes wartime alignments
The expansion of the Tigray People's Liberation Front's movements towards Afar and Amhara suggests it may adopt an approach similar to the strategy it used during the 2020-2022 war. That strategy involved attempts to cut supply lines, eventually leading to efforts to seize the capital, Addis Ababa. Seven groups opposed to the federal government in different regions had announced the formation of an alliance seeking to “overthrow” the authorities in Addis Ababa.
The alliance includes the Tigray People's Liberation Front, Fano fighters in Amhara and the Oromo Liberation Army. The alliance marks a shift in the alignment of forces that prevailed during the 2020-2022 war, when Fano and Eritrea allied with the Ethiopian government against the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The Addis Ababa government has not commented on the latest developments.
2020-2022 war left 600,000 dead
The Pretoria peace agreement ended that war and established a fragile calm, but clashes resumed in late 2025. The federal government carried out drone strikes on Tigray while massing its forces along the region's borders.
Human rights organisations accused the Tigray People's Liberation Front of carrying out forced recruitment campaigns this year in preparation for a resumption of fighting. About one million people remain displaced in the region, as the terms of the peace agreement have not been fully implemented.
