Photo: Collected
Fighting between government forces and an alliance of armed opposition groups in northern Ethiopia has intensified and extended as far as the capital Addis Ababa.
Citing diplomatic sources, it has been learnt that the sound of multiple explosions was heard in the capital in the early hours of Thursday local time.
At the same time, as the conflict spreads further in the north of the country, fears of a wider war with neighbouring Eritrea have also arisen.
Three diplomatic sources told British news agency Reuters that the sound of explosions was heard in Addis Ababa before dawn on Thursday. Just a few hours earlier, Ethiopian authorities had banned the flying of drones in the capital and surrounding areas. A source linked to the alliance named the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival told Reuters that the alliance carried out several drone attacks in the capital, some of which targeted the military headquarters.
However, the extent of damage in these attacks or whether there were any casualties could not be confirmed immediately.
Alliance of seven armed groups
This anti-government alliance has seven armed groups. Among them are the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and several armed organisations from the Amhara, Afar, Somali and Benishangul-Gumuz regions.
The alliance claims it wants to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government from power.
Ethiopia’s federal government counter-alleges that several neighbouring countries are backing this alliance. However, the accused countries have denied it.
In the latest situation, clashes between the alliance’s fighters and government forces have taken place in the Afar region as well. At the same time, Ethiopia has once again alleged that Eritrean forces have entered Afar. No immediate reaction on the matter was available from Eritrea.
Government forces advancing towards Tigray
From the Afar region, Mohammed Taha Tewekel, a reporter of Qatar-based media outlet Al Jazeera, said on Wednesday that the fighting that began from the Amhara region has spread further north, deep into Tigray.
According to his report, government forces have advanced northwards and reached within about 40 kilometres of Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray.
Meanwhile, the TPLF has moved its fighters to new positions. Several leaders of the organisation have also left Mekelle and gone elsewhere, Tewekel said.
Thousands of civilians have fled Mekelle fearing clashes. The region’s electricity and internet connections have been cut off.
Last week Tigray’s forces began a major offensive, which the TPLF has described as a ‘defensive war’. They claim the offensive is in response to drone strikes and shelling by federal forces.
After that, when government forces and their allied armed groups launched a counter-offensive, the conflict spread rapidly in various areas of northern Ethiopia.
Fresh clashes in Afar
The situation in the Afar region is also becoming increasingly alarming. Ethiopian government forces told Reuters that they have recaptured the two towns of Erebti and Abala adjoining the Tigray border. However, Reuters could not independently verify this claim.
Al Jazeera’s Tewekel said on Wednesday that fighting was still going on then over control of those two towns. Although there was an attempt at mediation through local residents to get the clashing forces to withdraw from Abala and Erebti, it failed.
Uncertainty has also arisen over the current condition of more than 80,000 Afar residents trapped in the area.
Fears of Eritrea-Ethiopia war
As the conflict escalates in Afar, fears of fresh instability have arisen not just for Ethiopia’s internal war but across the entire Horn of Africa region.
Tewekel’s report said that if the fighting intensifies further in Afar, Eritrea and Ethiopia may get directly embroiled in a wider war. In addition, if there is disruption to the important communication and supply route between Ethiopia and Djibouti, food security may also be put at grave risk.
The report further said clashes have also spread in areas adjoining the borders of Eritrea and Sudan. As a result, the fear has grown that the conflict, so long confined mainly to the northern region, may turn into a regional war.
Afar’s deputy governor Ahmed Hussein told Al Jazeera on Wednesday that Ethiopia has come under an unprecedented attack. He claims the aim of this attack is to weaken the Afar regional administration and install in power there individuals loyal to Eritrea.
He called for the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Afar territory and held Eritrea itself responsible for the safety of civilians in areas under the control of the opposition groups.
Risk of regional conflict growing
The current situation in Ethiopia has brought back memories of the Tigray war of a few years ago. This time the conflict has spread to Afar as well as Tigray and Amhara, and the claim of drone attacks in the capital has heightened the gravity of the situation.
If the incident of explosions in the capital is true, it is an important indication of the geographical spread of the conflict. On the other hand, fighting close to the borders of Eritrea and Sudan and the possible risk to the trade route connecting Djibouti could turn Ethiopia’s internal conflict into a regional crisis.
Up to the writing of this report, a full picture of casualties and damage in the clashes was not available. However, explosions in the capital, the advance of government forces towards Tigray and allegations of Eritrea’s possible involvement in Afar: all in all, the situation in northern Ethiopia is heading rapidly towards deterioration. Source: Al Jazeera
