Tigray War — Ethiopia's Civil Conflict
The Tigray War's origins lay in the restructuring of Ethiopian federal politics after Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister in April 2018. Abiy — an Oromo — merged three ruling coalition parties into the Prosperity Party and pursued national centralisation, reducing the autonomous power of regional ruling parties, including the TPLF, which had dominated Ethiopian politics for 27 years under the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). The immediate trigger: In September 2020, the Tigray regional government held regional elections in defiance of a federal postponement due to COVID-19. Abiy's government declared the election illegitimate; the TPLF declared the federal government illegitimate. In November 2020, the TPLF attacked a federal army base at Mekelle; Abiy launched military operations into Tigray. The war rapidly escalated. Eritrean forces — which had an existential grievance against the TPLF from the 1998–2000 Eritrean-Ethiopian War — entered on the federal side and committed documented mass atrocities in Tigray, particularly in Axum (November 2020). Federal and allied forces captured Mekelle (November 2020) but the TPLF continued fighting as a guerrilla force. In July 2021, the TPLF retook Mekelle and advanced south toward Addis Ababa. By November 2021 TPLF-allied forces were within 250km of the capital; Abiy himself went to the front. The military situation reversed again in December 2021 when the federal government retook strategic positions. The humanitarian catastrophe was extreme: the UN estimated 900,000 people in Tigray in famine conditions; access was deliberately blocked by federal forces. Sexual violence was used as a weapon of war by multiple parties. Casualty estimates ranged from 300,000 to 500,000 dead, though figures were disputed. The Pretoria Agreement (2 November 2022) halted major hostilities; implementation was incomplete.
- Year: 2020 CE
- Category: Military
