# Ethiopia's fragile peace collapses as Tigray war reignites

> Fighting between Tigray's TPLF and Ethiopia's army has resumed after four years of uneasy truce, with a new rebel alliance threatening wider conflict across the country.
- Title: Ethiopia's fragile peace collapses as Tigray war reignites
- Summary: Fighting between Tigray's TPLF and Ethiopia's army has resumed after four years of uneasy truce, with a new rebel alliance threatening wider conflict across…
- Keywords: tigray, tplf, ethiopia, armed conflict, pretoria agreement, abiy ahmed, amhara, alliance for survival, eritrea, african union, news, world
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6d94wywx0ypo
- Published: 2026-09-25T23:42:39.17+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: tigray, tplf, ethiopia, armed conflict, pretoria agreement, abiy ahmed, amhara, alliance for survival, eritrea, african union, news, world
## Fighting erupts in Tigray
Major clashes have broken out in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region between regional forces and the national army this week, spreading into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions.
## Residents fear return to war
Tigray residents, who have been trying to recover from a brutal two-year war that ended in twenty twenty-two, fear a return to full-scale conflict and widespread panic buying.
## Communications cut off
Internet and call services have been disrupted, leaving people unable to access money via digital apps in what has become a largely cashless society after ATMs stopped working months ago.
## Tensions escalate over months
The fighting follows more than six months of worsening relations between the government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the party that runs Tigray, with troops mobilising amid pockets of fighting.
## Blame over who started fighting
The TPLF says it was responding to a federal offensive including drone strikes. The government says Tigrayan forces attacked first after seizing control of airports in Tigray.
## TPLF's rise and fall
The TPLF emerged as an armed movement in the nineteen seventies and became the most powerful component of the coalition that governed Ethiopia for nearly three decades until Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed replaced it with the Prosperity Party in twenty eighteen.
## The devastating twenty twenty war
War erupted in twenty twenty after relations deteriorated. The African Union mediator estimated some six hundred thousand people died during the conflict, which cut off Tigray from the outside world and drove the region to the precipice of famine.
## Western Tigray remains disputed
The TPLF lost control of western Tigray to Amhara during the war. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tigrayan people fled and now live in homeless camps. The TPLF wants the territory back; the government says a referendum should decide its future.
## Other unresolved issues
The government accuses the TPLF of hiding weapons and only handing over old weaponry. The two sides also dispute how Tigray should be governed after the TPLF disbanded the interim administration appointed by Abiy, leaving civil servants unpaid.
## TPLF forms new alliance
In September, the TPLF joined six other armed movements in forming the Alliance for Survival, including Amhara's Fano militia and the Oromo Liberation Army, all seeking to remove Abiy's government from power.
## Eritrea tensions complicate matters
The government has accused neighbouring Eritrea of supporting the rebel alliance, something Asmara denies. The row has led the two countries to cut diplomatic ties. Prime Minister Abiy has been pushing for ownership of Eritrea's southern port of Assab.
## Diplomatic efforts underway
The African Union has called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and asked former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, its special Horn of Africa envoy, to engage the parties urgently. The UN and Igad have made similar appeals.
## Risk of wider conflict
The fighting has already spread to areas along Tigray's borders while the government deals with armed conflicts in Amhara and Oromia. The new alliance potentially connects these conflicts politically and militarily, with Eritrea and Sudan's warring factions also at risk of involvement.
## Key takeaway

Fighting has erupted in Ethiopia's Tigray region between the TPLF and the national army, ending a four-year ceasefire and raising fears of wider conflict across the country.