Ethiopia's Tigray War Resumes as Eritrean Troops Advance

The cessation of hostilities agreement from Pretoria has collapsed as renewed fighting erupted in northern Ethiopia amid the UN General Assembly’s high-level week. On Sept. 23, war erupted again as world leaders gathered in New York, with the Tigray Defense Forces launching a coordinated operation to seize three airports.

TDF launches airport seizures as Eritrean troops advance

The Tigray Defense Forces, led by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, seized three airports in the region. Concurrently, Eritrean forces crossed into Ethiopia's Tigray region. Their southward advance from the Zalambesa border crossing through Adigrat toward Edaga Hamus appears designed to cut off rebel supply lines and encircle remaining regional forces in the eastern zones.

ENDF regains control with TPF support

Within 10 days, the Ethiopian National Defense Force reversed the TDF’s initial gains. It retook the regional capital, Mekelle, which is Ethiopia’s third-largest city and an economic hub. The ENDF counteroffensive was coordinated with the pro-government Tigray Peace Force, which had splintered from the TPLF following the 2020-2022 conflict. During recent clashes, the Tigray Peace Force fought alongside the Ethiopian military to repel TDF offensives. TPLF forces have now withdrawn from Mekelle, which is under federal army control.

Getachew Reda’s shift and TPLF internal split

Deep internal divisions within the TPLF have contributed to the current volatility. A bitter leadership dispute exists between the faction led by Getachew Reda and the veteran TPLF central committee chaired by Debretsion Gebremichael. Getachew Reda, who negotiated the Pretoria Agreement and served as interim administrator, was ousted by TPLF hardliners in 2025. He is now an advisor to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and traveled to Mekelle on Oct. 11 accompanied by Abiy’s intelligence chief, Redwan Hussein. After his ouster, thousands of former TDF combatants and senior commanders joined pro-government ranks, forming the Tigray Peace Force.

Broader regional implications and humanitarian toll

The conflict's dynamics have expanded far beyond the federal government and the TPLF. Eritrean troops and the Amhara Fano militia, former partners of the ENDF, turned hostile after the 2022 Pretoria negotiations sidelined them. For Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, the agreement spared his mortal enemy from total defeat. Abiy Ahmed’s subsequent rhetoric demanding Red Sea access further transformed Eritrea from a partner into an active antagonist. In Amhara, the federal order to integrate regional special forces into national structures was viewed as leaving the region defenseless, transforming Fano into a widespread insurgency.

The TPLF is now part of a cross-regional anti-government coalition called the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival. The alliance members are:

Humanitarian conditions remain catastrophic. More than a million people are still displaced in Tigray nearly four years after the Pretoria Agreement. Reconstruction, public services, and livelihoods had not recovered from the earlier conflict and the de facto siege that inflicted deep structural damage. The region's fragile recovery depends on uninterrupted aid corridors, now threatened by renewed combat. Debretsion Gebremichael implied the TDF would shift from conventional operations to insurgency, stating: "We operate under a strategy to strike the enemy wherever we choose."

International observers have called for immediate de-escalation. The federal government may seek to win over fence-sitters in Tigray due to population reluctance to return to full-scale conflict, rather than risk a costly 2020-style siege.