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.
asserted
deal → intensify → region
The conflict has also spread into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions.
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conflict → spread → regions
Government-aligned forces say they captured the strategic town of Alamata, Tigray, on September 28, while Tigrayan forces have pushed into Afar.
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forces → align → Afar
Telecommunications have been cut across much of Tigray and commercial flights have been suspended, separating families and hampering humanitarian operations.
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flights → cut → 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.
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chief → accuse → war
All countries have denied the allegations, with Egypt adding that it strictly respects the sovereignty of neighbouring states.
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it → deny → states
In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera maps where the fighting is, who is involved and how Ethiopia got here.
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Ethiopia → map → explainer
Where is the fighting happening?
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fighting → happen → ?
Fighting is concentrated in three regions in northern Ethiopia: Tigray, Amhara and Afar.
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Fighting → concentrate → Ethiopia
In southern Tigray, government forces and their allies have taken Alamata, a strategic town about 120km (75 miles) south of the regional capital, Mekelle.
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forces → take → capital
On September 22, between 15 and 17 drone strikes hit Alamata, including several schools and a hospital, according to the conflict monitor ACLED.
uncertain
strikes → hit → monitor
To the west, a separate front has opened near the Tekeze River in western Tigray, an area disputed between Tigray and Amhara.
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front → open → Tigray
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 27.
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forces → spread → September
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.
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fighting → advance → Erebti
The advance matters because it could threaten the Semera-Djibouti corridor, Ethiopia’s main route for imports, including fuel.
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it → matter → fuel
Which main groups are fighting?
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groups → fight → ?
Seven Ethiopian armed and political groups announced an alliance on September 20 aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and establishing an inclusive transitional government.
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groups → announce → government
The group is called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, or the Alliance for Survival.
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group → call → Survival
Its members include:
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF): The alliance’s main military force, whose fighters launched the latest offensive.
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fighters → include → offensive
It dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy took office in 2018.
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Abiy → dominate → 2018
War broke out between the TPLF and federal forces in November 2020.
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War → break → November
The Amhara Fano National Movement: A coalition of Fano factions that turned against Abiy’s government in 2023, after fighting alongside federal forces during the Tigray war.
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that → turn → war
The Oromo Liberation Army (OLA): It has fought federal forces in Oromia since 2018, seeking greater self-determination for the Oromo.
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It → fight → 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.
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groups → name → Ugugumo
On September 25, the Sidama National Liberation Front announced that it would also join.
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it → announce → September
The alliance’s membership is contested.
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membership → contest → ?
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.
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it → accord → wing
The ONLF is split: one faction backs the alliance, while another says it is not part of it.
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it → split → it
The OLA has indicated that its main interest is removing the government rather than joining coordinated military operations.
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interest → indicate → operations
ACLED says only three members, the TPLF, the Amhara Fano National Movement and Ugugumo, were actively fighting federal forces as of September 26.
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members → say → September
In its founding statement, the alliance accused the government of “dictatorial rule”.
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alliance → accuse → rule
It said a transitional government would end the country’s wars, protect rights and open a national dialogue.
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government → say → dialogue
Ethiopia is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti.
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Ethiopia → border → Eritrea
The Oromo are the largest, making up about 35 percent of the population, followed by the Amhara at about 24 percent.
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Oromo → make → percent
Other major groups include Somali (7 percent), Tigrayan (6 percent) and Sidama (4 percent).
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groups → include → Somali
Ethiopia is divided into 12 regional states and two chartered cities, Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.
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Ethiopia → divide → states
The federal system, introduced in 1992 and formalised in the 1994 constitution, largely follows ethnic and linguistic divisions.
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system → introduce → divisions
How did we get here?
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we → get → ?
The renewed fighting stems from political and territorial tensions left unresolved following Ethiopia’s 2020-2022 Tigray war.
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fighting → renew → war
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government remain divided over political control, security and disputed territory.
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Front → remain → control
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
