Mekelle – Ethiopian federal authorities are preparing “to wage a war against Tigray,” a senior official from this northern regional state told AFP on Wednesday, raising fears of a new conflict.
At least 600,000 people were killed in the conflict, according to estimates from the African Union.
A ceasefire held for more than two years, but clashes between federal and Tigrayan forces broke out again in November 2025 and January 2026.
Large numbers of federal troops have for several weeks been massed at the Tigray border, where Tigrayan forces have also deployed.
‘We Won’t Allow Tigray to Be a Battlefield’#Tigray’s VP said Ethiopia’s claim that it needs to deploy troops to “secure the Eritrean border” is unacceptable and could be a ploy to commit another genocide, adding that they’d already refused federal calls to fight Fano & Eritrea. pic.twitter.com/5jFA3R3pye
— Yonas Nigussie (@Yonigussie) March 3, 2026
“The federal troops are advancing” from all corners of Ethiopia “and I can say that Tigray is being encircled by federal troops”, Amanuel Assefa, the TPLF’s second-in-command, told AFP in the regional capital Mekelle.
“The federal government is preparing itself to wage a war against Tigray. So, the highly likely scenario seems that there will be a conflict,” he added.
Federal authorities did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The federal authorities have accused the TPLF of growing closer to neighbouring Eritrea, which maintains fragile relations with Addis Ababa.
But Amanuel told AFP: “We have no contact with them. We have no relationship with them.”
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a deadly, large-scale war from May 1998 to June 2000.
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Source: AFP
