What do we know about the war in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray? Here are key events

 

Illustration of a Concept of the Conflict between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray with two opposing fists in front of a wall/ shutterstock

 

A nearly two-year-long war in northern Ethiopia has killed thousands of civilians, left millions of people needing food aid and displaced millions more. Here are some of the main events in the conflict.

 

Nov. 4, 2020 - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sends troops into the northern region of Tigray, accusing its governing party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), of mounting surprise attacks against military bases in the area.

 

 

The TPLF, which dominated national politics until Abiy took office in 2018, says it seized military equipment and took thousands of soldiers prisoner because Abiy was preparing to send troops into the region after it held a vote in September in defiance of federal government orders.

 

In the subsequent days, Eritrean soldiers and forces from the neighbouring Ethiopian region of Amhara mobilise to reinforce Ethiopian troops.

 

Nov. 9, 2020 - The first of two rounds of ethnic killings begins in the town of Mai Kadra, claiming hundreds of lives. Initially Amhara civilians say they are attacked by Tigrayan militiamen. Then Tigrayan civilians say they are attacked by Amhara militiamen. Tens of thousands of Tigrayans begin to flee from Western Tigray into Sudan.

 

Nov. 14, 2020 - The TPLF fires rockets at two Amhara airports and at the Eritrean capital Asmara, accusing Eritrea of sending soldiers into Tigray.

 

Nov. 28, 2020 - Abiy tells parliament that operations in Tigray are over and soldiers control the Tigrayan capital Mekelle.

 

Nov. 28-29, 2020 - Eritrean troops kill hundreds of people in the town of Axum, Amnesty International says, describing it as a potential crime against humanity.

 

February-March 2021 - Tens of thousands of civilians move east, deeper into Tigray, as they flee Western Tigray, whose fertile fields are also claimed by Amhara.

 

March 16, 2022 - World's worst health crisis is in Ethiopia, says WHO Director-General.

 

March 23, 2021 - Abiy confirms for the first time that Eritrean troops entered Tigray, after months of denials from both nations.

April 2021 - A regional official says Eritrean soldiers are holding Tigrayan women as sex slaves amid a wave of reported gang rapes. Eritrea denies the accusation.

 

June 11, 2021 - The United Nations says 350,000 Tigrayans are experiencing famine with millions more at risk; the U.N. aid chief accuses Ethiopia of using food as a weapon of war. Ethiopia denies blocking aid.

 

June 29, 2021 - Tigrayan forces take control of Mekelle, after months of battles in the surrounding countryside. Ethiopian and Eritrean troops withdraw from most of Tigray except Western Tigray.

 

July 13, 2021 - Tigrayan forces thrust south and west into land claimed by the neighbouring Amhara region.

 

July 19, 2021 - Tigrayan forces push east to attack the neighbouring Afar region, towards a road and railway linking the capital of landlocked Ethiopia to Djibouti's port.

 

Sept. 29, 2021 - Only a trickle of food aid reaches Tigray. The United Nations accuses the government of a de facto blockade, which it denies.

 

Oct. 11, 2021 - Ethiopia launches a ground offensive to push Tigrayan forces out of Amhara and Afar. The next week, Ethiopia restarts air strikes in Tigray.

 

October 18, 2021 - Ethiopia's air force conducted an air strike on Mekelle, capital of the country's Tigray region on Monday, targeting communications infrastructure, the state-run Ethiopian Press Agency said late in the day.

 

Earlier in that day, Ethiopia’s government has denied the attack.

 

Nov. 2, 2021 - Ethiopia declares a six-month state of emergency after Tigrayan forces gain territory and say they are considering marching on the capital Addis Ababa.

 

December 2021 - Ethiopia's military recaptures the town of Lalibela, famed for its rock churches, from Tigrayan forces. It is the latest in a string of towns Ethiopia's military says it has retaken.

 

Jan 8, 2022 - Aid workers tell Reuters that an air strike in Tigray killed 56 people and injured 30 in a camp for displaced people. The government does not respond to a Reuters request for comment at the time, but has denied targeting civilians.

 

Feb 15, 2022 - Ethiopia's parliament votes for an early end to a six-month state of emergency.

 

March 24, 2022 - Ethiopia's government declares an immediate, unilateral truce to allow aid into Tigray. Tigrayan forces later say they will respect a ceasefire if sufficient aid is delivered to their region "within reasonable time".

 

April 1, 2022 - Twenty trucks carrying food aid enter territory controlled by Tigrayan forces, the first time aid enters Tigray by road since mid-December. The initial trickle of aid increases over the next month.

 

June 14, 2022 - The federal government forms a committee to negotiate with Tigrayan forces, a public step towards peace talks.

 

 

June 28, 2021 - At least 64 people were killed and 180 were injured in an air strike on a market in Ethiopia's war-torn northern Tigray region, a local health officer said, as the army denied targeting civilians.

 

Aug. 20, 2022 - The World Food Programme says almost half the population of Tigray is in "severe" need of food. Aid groups struggle to distribute supplies because the government restricts the amount of fuel that can enter Tirade.

 

Aug. 24, 2022 - Fighting between Tigrayan forces and government forces erupts around the town of Kobo, ending a months-long ceasefire.

 

Aug. 24, 2022 - Fighting erupts along border of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region around 5:00 a.m(11 a.m local time).

 

Aug. 31, 2022 - New front opens in Ethiopia's resurging Tigray war near Sudan border, after a ceasefire collapsed a week ago.

Why has fighting restarted in north Ethiopia?

A ceasefire that was declared in March has been broken by new fighting that has broken out along the boundaries of Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. The conflict was initially sparked in November 2020 when Tigrayan forces seized military bases throughout their territory. Both sides now accuse one another of reigniting it.

 

 What happened to peace talks?

 

Olusegun Obasanjo, the representative of the African Union, who the TPLF accused him of siding with Abiy Ahmed, has received support from other nations. In June, both parties declared that they had chosen representatives for the negotiations. The TPLF said there were two meetings abroad, an assertion not confirmed by the government, who did not respond to requests for comment. The renewed fighting has shredded those hopes.

 

What happened during the ceasefire?

After fighting to a bloody stalemate - with thousands dead, infrastructure smashed and tens of thousands uprooted from their homes - it appears both sides used the lull to reorganise. Reports emerged from Tigray of forced recruitment, with parents or spouses imprisoned if civilians did not join up.

 

Residents around the areas where fighting erupted also reported increased movements of government troops and militia in the days before the clashes. The Ethiopian military promised legal action on anyone reporting "inappropriate information or rumours".

 

What were the problems?

 

Before meaningful peace talks could begin, the TPLF demanded that essential public services be restored to Tigray; this demand was backed by American and European envoys. Since the departure of Ethiopian and Eritrean forces from the majority of Tigray more than a year ago, Tigray has been without banking and telephone connections.

 

This April, the ceasefire permitted massive convoys to reenter Tigray. Since mid-2021, only a little trickle of help had been permitted in, resulting in what the UN dubbed a de facto embargo. The administration denied preventing aid.

 

 

But even after April, relief workers still had trouble getting the food to everyone since they could only import less than a fifth of the fuel they need. There is a shortage of medicine as well. Medicine is also in short supply. Malnutrition is rising, with those in "severe" need up from 37% of the population in January to 47% in August.

 

What's next?

 

There is fighting to the south of Tigray between the Ethiopian military, allied forces from Amhara region, and the TPLF. The government has also carried out airstrikes in the Tigray capital, Mekelle. Fighting has also erupted in the west, in a contested area claimed by both Tigray and Amhara. There have also been reports of shelling coming across the border from Eritrea to the north. Eritrean troops previously fought alongside Ethiopian soldiers against the TPLF.

 

The TPLF has said it expects a major push from the west. The government is keen to keep control of the contested area partly because it blocks the TPLF's access to Sudan, which the group could potentially use as a resupply route for weapons or recruits. Currently the area held by Tigrayan forces is surrounded on all sides by forces they are fighting.