Britain warns against travel to Tigray region: Is conflict returning to Ethiopia?
On Sunday, the British Foreign Office issued an urgent warning to its citizens against traveling to the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, due to escalating security tensions and renewed armed clashes between local forces and the federal army, raising international concerns about a return to bloody conflict in the region.
Details of the British warning and renewed violence
The updated British warning now covers "the entire Tigray region," following confirmed reports of renewed violence. Local sources, including the pro-government Dimitsi Wayane TV, reported two drone attacks that killed a truck driver in central Tigray. Hostilities are particularly concentrated in the Tesmelt area in the west of the region, a region embroiled in a complex border and administrative dispute between Tigrayan forces and those from the neighboring Amhara region.
Background to the conflict: The Two Years' War and the Pretoria Agreement
To understand the gravity of the current warning, one must consider the recent historical context. Ethiopia experienced a brutal civil war that erupted in November 2020 between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). This conflict lasted for two full years, until November 2022, leaving widespread devastation and a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. The African Union estimates that the war claimed the lives of at least 600,000 people, while international experts believe the true figures could be much higher due to famine and lack of medical care.
Diplomatic efforts culminated in the signing of the "Pretoria Agreement" to end hostilities in South Africa, but current tensions threaten to undermine this fragile agreement, especially with some outstanding issues such as the status of disputed areas and the complete disarmament of fighters remaining unresolved.
Geopolitical importance and international concerns
The repercussions of this conflict are not limited to Ethiopia alone, but extend to the entire Horn of Africa region. Ethiopia's stability is a cornerstone of regional security, and any further slide into all-out war could lead to massive waves of displacement and destabilize neighboring countries.
The renewed fighting has raised widespread concern in the international community, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with the African and European Unions, expressing their deep concern and calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and abide by the terms of the peace agreement to avoid a new humanitarian catastrophe.
