Renewed fighting in Ethiopia’s Tigray region is raising concerns about a deepening humanitarian crisis and wider instability in the Horn of Africa.
Fighting between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan forces has continued despite the 2022 peace agreement that ended the previous war in the region. The latest clashes have also heightened tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea, with Ethiopia accusing Eritrea of supporting opposition forces, an allegation Asmara denies.
Public and international affairs analyst Advocate Sipho Mantula says the renewed violence highlights unresolved issues in the peace agreement.
“The fault lines are that the issue of Eritrea being involved in the peace agreement as a guarantor was not clearly outlined,” Mantula said.
He says the humanitarian impact must remain a priority, particularly as communication disruptions have made it difficult for civilians and the media to access reliable information from Tigray.
“We still lack African humanitarian bodies to respond to the humanitarian crisis. What we do, we would rather go for military interventions. We don’t look at humanitarian crisis,” he said.
Mantula says the conflict could also have long-term economic consequences, affecting investment, infrastructure, banking, telecommunications and transport.
He is calling on all parties to return to negotiations and address the gaps in the 2022 agreement.
“If president Abiy Ahmed is really a peace builder and a peacemaker from the Nobel Peace Prize, he could extend the hand of engagement with TPLF,” Mantula said.
He also urged the peace agreement’s guarantors and regional countries to play a greater role in preventing the conflict from escalating further.
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