Fighting is intensifying across northern Ethiopia, almost four years after a peace deal ended a devastating two-year war in the country’s Tigray region.
The conflict has also spread into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions. Government-aligned forces say they captured the strategic town of Alamata, Tigray, on September ۲۸, while Tigrayan forces have pushed into Afar.
Telecommunications have been cut across much of Tigray and commercial flights have been suspended, separating families and hampering humanitarian operations.
Ethiopia’s army chief has accused Eritrea, Sudan’s army and Egypt of backing the armed groups, raising fears of a wider regional war. All countries have denied the allegations, with Egypt adding that it strictly respects the sovereignty of neighbouring states.
In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera maps where the fighting is, who is involved and how Ethiopia got here.
Where is the fighting happening?
Fighting is concentrated in three regions in northern Ethiopia: Tigray, Amhara and Afar. There are several active fronts rather than a single battlefield.
In southern Tigray, government forces and their allies have taken Alamata, a strategic town about ۱۲۰km (۷۵ miles) south of the regional capital, Mekelle.
The town is a supply hub for troops, fuel and food near Tigray’s border with Amhara.
On September ۲۲, between ۱۵ and ۱۷ drone strikes hit Alamata, including several schools and a hospital, according to the conflict monitor ACLED.
To the west, a separate front has opened near the Tekeze River in western Tigray, an area disputed between Tigray and Amhara.
Fighting has also spread into northern Amhara, around Kobo and Gidan in North Wello zone and Sekota in Wag Hemra zone, which government forces retook on September ۲۷.
Further east, Tigrayan forces and the Afar armed group Ugugumo have advanced into Afar, where fighting has been reported along the Tigray-Afar border and around Erebti and Abala.
The advance matters because it could threaten the Semera-Djibouti corridor, Ethiopia’s main route for imports, including fuel.
Which main groups are fighting?
Seven Ethiopian armed and political groups announced an alliance on September ۲۰ aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and establishing an inclusive transitional government.
The group is called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, or the Alliance for Survival. Its members include:
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF): The alliance’s main military force, whose fighters launched the latest offensive. It dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in ۲۰۱۸. War broke out between the TPLF and federal forces in November ۲۰۲۰.
The Amhara Fano National Movement: A coalition of Fano factions that turned against Abiy’s government in ۲۰۲۳, after fighting alongside federal forces during the Tigray war.
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA): It has fought federal forces in Oromia since ۲۰۱۸, seeking greater self-determination for the Oromo.
The other groups named in the alliance are the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), the Afar Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (also known as Ugugumo), the Benishangul Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement. On September ۲۵, the Sidama National Liberation Front announced that it would also join.
The alliance’s membership is contested. According to Jalale Getachew Birru, senior East Africa analyst at ACLED, the Gumuz Peoples’ Democratic Movement has denied joining, saying it has no armed wing. The ONLF is split: one faction backs the alliance, while another says it is not part of it. The OLA has indicated that its main interest is removing the government rather than joining coordinated military operations.
ACLED says only three members, the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement and Ugugumo, were actively fighting federal forces as of September ۲۶.
In its founding statement, the alliance accused the government of “dictatorial rule”. It said a transitional government would end the country’s wars, protect rights and open a national dialogue.
What are the regions of Ethiopia?
Ethiopia is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti. With about ۱۳۹ million people, it is Africa’s second-most populous country after Nigeria.
It is also one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries, with more than ۸۰ groups. The Oromo are the largest, making up about ۳۵ percent of the population, followed by the Amhara at about ۲۴ percent. Other major groups include Somali (۷ percent), Tigrayan (۶ percent) and Sidama (۴ percent).
Ethiopia is divided into ۱۲ regional states and two chartered cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The federal system, introduced in ۱۹۹۲ and formalised in the ۱۹۹۴ constitution, largely follows ethnic and linguistic divisions.
How did we get here?
The renewed fighting stems from political and territorial tensions left unresolved following Ethiopia’s ۲۰۲۰-۲۰۲۲ Tigray war. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government remain divided over political control, security and disputed territory.
Tensions have been building for months. According to the conflict monitor ACLED, clashes between Tigrayan and federal forces began near the Sudanese border on August ۱, followed by federal drone strikes and Tigrayan troop deployments.
In September, Tigrayan forces moved tanks and artillery south. There were also reports of renewed recruitment and forced mobilisation in Tigray.
On September ۲۰, the TPLF and six other armed and political groups announced the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which aims to overthrow Abiy’s government and install a transitional administration.
Three days later, on September ۲۳, fighting escalated sharply. Tigrayan forces seized the airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire and pushed into neighbouring Afar and Amhara. The government says the TPLF launched an “all-out offensive”. The TPLF says it is fighting a “defensive war” and accuses federal forces of attacking with aircraft, drones and artillery.
