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The Tigray War, also referred to in some academic and policy sources as the Northern Ethiopia Conflict, was an War that lasted from 3 November 2020 to 3 November 2022. It was a civil war that was primarily fought in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia between forces allied with the Ethiopian federal government and Eritrea on one side, and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) on the other.
After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when TPLF forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray. The ENDF counterattacked from the south – while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north – which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as a "law enforcement operation". Federal allied forces captured Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray Region, on 28 November, after which Abiy declared the operation "over." However, the TPLF stated soon afterwards that it would continue fighting until the "invaders" were out, and on 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) retook Mekelle; by July the same year, they had also advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions. In early November 2021, the TDF, together with the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), took control of several towns on the highway south from Tigray Region towards Addis Ababa, and the TPLF stated that it considered "marching on the." Together with seven smaller rebel groups, the TPLF and OLA declared a coalition aiming to "dismantle Abiy's government by force or by negotiations, and then form a transitional authority."
After a successful government counter-offensive in response, and then a series of negotiations with the TPLF, Ethiopia declared an indefinite humanitarian truce on 24 March 2022, in order to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Tigray. However, fighting dramatically re-escalated in late August 2022, after peace talks broke down. Rapid mobilization of troops soon followed, with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray reportedly organizing hundreds of thousands of troops against each other by October the same year. After a number of peace and mediation proposals in the intervening years, Ethiopia and the Tigrayan rebel forces agreed to a cessation of hostilities on 2 November, which went into effect the day after; Eritrea was not a party to the agreement, however, and they largely continued to occupy parts of Tigray as of 2023.
All sides, particularly the ENDF, EDF, Amhara Region forces and TDF, committed war crimes during the conflict. Mass extrajudicial killings of civilians took place throughout, including in Axum massacre, Bora massacre, Chenna massacre, Kobo massacre, the Hitsats massacre, Humera, Mai Kadra, the Mahbere Dego, and Zalambessa. Additionally, the ENDF and EDF were accused of genocide. Between 162,000 and 600,000 people were killed, and war rape became a "daily" occurrence, with girls as young as 8 and women as old as 72 being raped, often in front of their families. A major humanitarian crisis developed as a result of the war, which led to a widespread famine. It also inflicted immense economic damage on the region, with the cost of rebuilding alone estimated to be roughly $20 billion.
On 28 March 2018, in a closed-door election to chair the EPRDF, executive committee members elected the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organisation (OPDO) chairman Abiy Ahmed. On 2 April 2018, Ethiopian parliament elected Abiy as prime minister. One of Abiy's first actions after his election was to initiate a warming of relations with Eritrea, a long-time rival of the TPLF, to end a 20-year long border conflict. While this decision was considered a cause of celebration at the time, many within the Tigray Region were heavily critical of this, seeing it as a betrayal of those who died in the 1998–2000 war. The TPLF condemned the peace initiatives, saying they were hastily made, had "fundamental flaws", and also claimed it was decided on without consulting long-time TPLF members.
On 1 December 2019, Abiy merged the ethnic and region-based parties of the EPRDF (which had governed Ethiopia for 28 years) and several opposition parties into his new Prosperity Party. The TPLF, which had long dominated Ethiopian politics, refused to join this new party. After losing the election and being ousted from the federal government, TPLF officials relocated to the Tigray Region, continuing to administer control there while frequently clashing with the federal government. In one instance, the Tigray regional government was reported to have defied the federal government and refused to allow Ethiopian Federal Police to arrest Getachew Assefa, the former chief of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Ethiopia and executive member of the TPLF.
The Ethiopian government and its supporters accused the TPLF of trying to re-establish their rule over the country through violence and force. In turn, the TPLF accused the federal government of accumulating too much power for itself, and that it was engaging in ethnic discrimination of Tigrayans.
The TPLF, led by its chairman Debretsion Gebremichael, rejected these measures, arguing that they were unconstitutional, and held its own regional election on 9 September, in defiance of the federal government. Several journalists were barred by the Ethiopian government from travelling to cover Tigray's regional election. Ethiopia considered the Tigray election to be illegal, and responded by slashing federal funding to the region, a decision the TPLF described as "tantamount to declaration of war."
In late September 2020, the TPLF stated that the constitutional term limit of the House of Federation, the House of Peoples' Representatives, the prime minister, and the Council of Ministers was 5 October 2020 and that for this reason, it would consider "the incumbent" constitutionally illegitimate after 5 October; they proposed replacing the government with a technocratic caretaker government, as detailed in a plan posted on Facebook by the Coalition of Ethiopian Federalist Forces. Ethiopian elite units were transported to Gherghera base near Asmara, as part of an alleged pact between Prime Minister Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to "strike out of existence the TPLF," according to former Eritrean Minister of Defence Mesfin Hagos.
In late October 2020, the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission stated that it was trying to mediate between the federal government and the TPLF, as well as the other regional governments, but that the pre-conditions set by all sides were blocking progress. As tension continued to grow, a brigadier general appointed by Abiy was prevented by the Tigray government from taking up his military post. The same day before the Tigray forces launched the Northern Command attacks, the federal parliament of Ethiopia had suggested designating the TPLF as a terrorist organization.
Just before midnight on 3 November 2020, Tigray Special Forces and allied local militia attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Northern Command headquarters in Mekelle, the Fifth Battalion barracks in Dansha, and other Northern Command bases. Several people were killed and the TPLF claimed the attack was carried out in self-defense or preemptive self-defense.
In retaliation, an Ethiopian offensive was launched on 4 November, which was accompanied by the declaration of a state of emergency, the creation of the State of Emergency Inquiry Board and a shutdown of government services in the Tigray Region. During the subsequent days, skirmishes continued and the Ethiopian federal parliament declared the creation of an interim government for Tigray. Ethiopian offensives in the north were accompanied with airstrikes and several towns and cities were retaken.
On the night of 9 to 10 November 2020, 600 civilians, mostly Amhara people and Welkait, were killed in a massacre in the town of Mai Kadra with machetes and knives used by local militias and police that were loyal to the TPLF, according to preliminary investigations by Amnesty International and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission; other refugees, interviewed by the Financial Times and Reuters, said it was the Amhara militia who were the perpetrators and Tigrayans who were the victims. Two days later, refugees interviewed by the Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The New York Times stated that Amhara militias, including Fano, and the ENDF carried out beatings and massacres of 92 Tigrayans in Humera. Humera was shelled from the direction of the Eritrean–Ethiopian border for two days around 9–11 November. The ENDF gained control of the town one day later. Within the same month, Amhara Region forces took over and occupied Western Tigray.
Offensives of joint ENDF-Amhara Region-Eritrean forces into Tigray were facilitated by the intervention of "Pterosaurus" drones, launched by the United Arab Emirates from its base in Assab, Eritrea. The Chinese-made, armed drones bombed Tigrayan artillery and weapons depots. has provided a summarized translation of the Chinese article. In the late hours of 13 November 2020, Tigray forces fired a rocket towards the airports of Bahir Dar and Gondar Airport in the Amhara Region. On 14 November, Tigray forces launched rockets at the Eritrean capital of Asmara, but the missiles missed. The Tigray government claimed these locations contained military terminals that served as bases to carry out airstrikes.
From 17 to 19 November, Ethiopian forces captured the Raya Azebo district and the towns of Shire, Alamata, Adwa, and Axum, and began moving towards Adigrat. Fighting between Tigray and Eritrea took place in Adi Quala, Zalambessa, Taruna, Ali Tina, Wadqomdi, and Badme. On 23 November, Ethiopian forces reached the regional capital of Mekelle and Encirclement it. A military spokesperson for Ethiopia, Colonel Dejene Tsegaye, announced that Mekelle would be shelled, and told Tigray civilians to flee the city because Ethiopian forces would show no mercy.
Though TPLF leaders and special forces had already left the city, Ethiopian forces continued their direct assault on Mekelle on the morning of 28 November, and started heavily shelling the city. By the evening, Prime Minister Abiy declared Ethiopian forces had taken full control of the city. In total, 27 civilians were killed and 100 others were injured. The Tigray government vowed to continue fighting.
On 28 and 29 November, witnesses and survivors, including refugees in Sudan, reported that the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) carried out the Axum massacre of about 720 to 800 civilians. The Eritrean government stated that it was angered by Amnesty International's report on the massacre, calling it "transparently unprofessional" and "politically motivated" and accusing Amnesty of fabricating evidence. However, refugees also spoke of the EDF killing 80–150 people in Idaga Hamus on 30 November, as part of a larger series of extrajudicial killings known as the Adigrat massacres.
A witness told Al Jazeera that, on 4 December, Eritrean troops entered her town in southeastern Tigray and attempted to rape her; this statement is corroborated by other survivors and witnesses, who spoke of rampant sexual violence, massacres and destruction of civilian infrastructure committed by the EDF. In February 2021, the UN chief coordinator of humanitarian efforts Mark Lowcock said that up to 40% of Tigray was not controlled by Ethiopian troops. Aside from Tigrayan rebel forces, he said that much of that area was under the control of the EDF, pursuing their own objectives independent of Ethiopian command. By early March, residents said that the number of Eritrean soldiers in Tigray was in the thousands.
By mid-December, fighting had reached Hagere Selam, Samre, Dogu'a, Kola Tembien, May Tsemre and localities around Maychew. During this time, a violently enforced curfew was set up by Ethiopian forces along with Eritrean soldiers. According to the Europe External Programme with Africa (EEPA), in Wukro over 200 people were killed and the town was left deserted. The Ethiopian government denied involvement in the killing.
On 9 January 2021, Ethiopian TV reported that 300 refugees in Hitsats camp were executed by the TPLF. According to refugees, pro-TPLF forces used Hitsats as a base for several weeks in November 2020, killing several refugees who wanted to leave the camp to get food and, in one incident, killed nine young Eritrean men in revenge for having lost a battle against the EDF. On 18 February, unidentified militiamen ambushed a passenger bus in Adi Mesino, killing six and injuring 10.
Ultimately, the early gains made by the ENDF and EDF against Tigrayan forces did not lead to a decisive defeat of the re-organized and invigorated TDF. In late January, the TDF had rallied and were intensifying their insurgency against Ethiopian forces despite the initial setbacks and heavy losses. During this time fighting was reported to have taken place around Mekelle, and the ENDF had retreated from rural positions towards the city. Several of these clashes took place in mid-February at Samre, a small town south-west of Mekelle. Thousands of Ethiopian troops supported by artillery, tanks, and airstrikes fought dug-in forces loyal to the Tigray regional government.
According to a report by Ghent University, massacres of civilians continued into March, including around 250 in Humera over the course of three days by unconfirmed perpetrators, and 13 in Grizana by the EDF. That same month, an undated video surfaced that purported to show Ethiopian troops executing 11 unarmed men before throwing their bodies off a cliff near Mahibere Dego.
Fighting intensified in early April; by this point, the TDF was in control of the rural areas of Maekelay Zone and Debubawi Zone Tigray along with parts of Misraqawi Zone and south-eastern Tigray, while the ENDF was in control of the main roads and urban areas. Amhara and Eritrean forces also controlled parts of Tigray in the west and north, respectively. All sides wished to secure a military victory, but they lacked the ability to do so in the near term, and so they began to prepare for a prolonged conflict. The Tigray Defense Forces were engaged in a war of attrition with popular support from the people of Tigray, who were infuriated by war crimes committed by Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers and worried about a potential decrease in the region's autonomy. This resulted in the TDF growing in strength and the concept of secession from Ethiopia gaining popularity in Tigray, a stance which was considered likely to inflame Amhara-Tigray territorial disputes.
On 6 May, Ethiopia's House of Peoples' Representatives declared the TPLF as a terrorist organization. On 21 May, Ethiopia's military prosecutors convicted 3 soldiers of rape, and pressed charges against more than 50 others suspected of killing or raping civilians in Tigray.
On 22 June 2021, an Ethiopian military cargo plane was shot down over Samre, marking a turn of the war in the TDF's favor. On 28 June 2021, the Tigray Defense Forces retook the city of Mekelle. People celebrated in the streets of Mekelle as the TDF took the city. Ethiopian soldiers, police and administrators were seen leaving, ahead of the occupation by the TDF. Shortly after hearing news of the TDF advance, the Ethiopian government declared an immediate unilateral ceasefire across the Tigray Region. BBC News reporter Vivienne Nunis characterised the ceasefire as an attempt by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to save face, the government having little other option.
On 29 June, Tigrayan forces vowed to continue their offensive and drive into Eritrea or the Amhara Region if necessary, and said that Mekelle was 100% under the control of Tigrayan forces. On 30 June 2021, the TDF had entered the town of Shire, some northwest of Mekelle, after it had been abandoned by Eritrean troops. The International Crisis Group claimed that the TDF now controlled most of the Tigray region. The Ethiopian government claimed, on 30 June, that it could re-enter Mekelle in less than three weeks if it wanted to. In the same announcement, the Ethiopian government stated that all Eritrean forces had withdrawn from the region, though this was not confirmed by the Eritrean government.
On 6 July 2021, the Tigrayan government mobilised to retake western Tigray from Amhara forces. A TDF offensive starting on 12 July resulted in Tigrayan forces capturing southern Tigray, including the towns of Alamata and Korem. The TDF subsequently crossed the Tekezé River and advanced westward, capturing the town of Mai Tsebri in the Tselemti district, and prompting Amhara officials to call on its militias to arm themselves and mobilise. Following the TDF's rapid advances, Abiy threatened to resume war with Tigray and crush the rebels, raising fears of genocide. He called on other regions of Ethiopia to mobilise their special forces. The Oromia, Sidama region, and SNNPR regions answered the call and mobilised.
From 17 to 19 July, the TDF began launching attacks in the Afar Region to its east, prompting the Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambela Region, Harari Region and Somali Region regions to join the war. Heavy fighting in western Afar displaced over 54,000 people, and resulted in the TDF reportedly capturing three districts in the region.
While the Tigray government claimed it only entered Afar to target federal forces, experts believe their aim was to sever a portion of National Highway A1, a vital trade route for landlocked Ethiopia, linking the capital of Addis Ababa to the Port of Djibouti, from which most of its petroleum products are imported. Following the TDF's counter-attack on two districts of his region, the Amhara regional President, Agegnehu Teshager, called for the total mobilisation of all people of all ages who are armed in the region to fight against the Tigrayans. A similar call was made in Afar. Meanwhile, the city of Weldiya was captured by the TDF on 12 August 2021.
On 4 August 2021, some Agew people declared themselves independent from the Amhara Region and formed the Agew Liberation Front (ALF). The next day, Lalibela was reported to have been seized by Tigrayan forces. On 9 August, UNICEF executive director Henrietta Fore expressed concern about reports that over 200 people, including 100 children, had been killed in attacks on displaced families sheltering at a health facility and a school in the Afar Region. On 11 August, the TDF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA) announced an alliance to overthrow Abiy Ahmed's government, saying they were also in talks with other rebel groups to establish a "grand coalition". With the TDF advancing deeper into Amhara, various cities across the region began enforcing curfews.
On 9 September 2021, the Ethiopian government claimed Tigrayan forces had been "routed" and heavily defeated in the Afar Region. TPLF spokesperson Getachew Reda said its forces had seen no fighting in Afar and had redeployed to the adjoining Amhara Region. On 30 September, amid UN concerns about a blockade of aid deliveries to Tigray, the Ethiopian government expelled 7 top UN officials, reportedly because of "meddling" in its internal affairs, giving the officials 72 hours to leave the country.
On 8 October 2021, Getachew said that an intensive air campaign by the Ethiopian Air Force began against TDF positions in the North Wollo and North Gondar zones of the Amhara Region, mostly around the towns of Wegeltena, Wurgessa and Haro. He also stated there was a "massive build up of forces on all fronts." The federal government and Amhara regional government did not respond to the claim. On 11 October, Ethiopian-allied forces launched coordinated ground attacks "on all fronts" against the TDF with combined arms including tanks, helicopters, heavy artillery, warplanes, and drones according to the Tigrayan government. General Tsadkan Gebretensae, member of the central command of the TDF said both sides had been preparing for the offensive for months, and predicted that battle would be "decisive".
The new offensive effectively ended the unilateral ceasefire declared by the federal government in June and further deepened fears of the developing famine in Tigray, with a federal government blockade still preventing most aid from arriving. Meanwhile, the continued war prompted regional leaders, including Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, to voice their concerns and urge peace, while US Secretary of State Blinken met with the AU envoy to Ethiopia, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, to discuss the crisis.
On 13 October, Getachew claimed fighting continued intensifying with "staggering" casualties. He also claimed clashes were taking place near Weldiya and that fighting had resumed in Afar, within the Awra and Chifra districts near the Amhara border. A humanitarian worker citing witnesses said the EDF were fighting the TDF in Berhale, a town in Afar northeast of Mekelle.
On 30 October, it was reported that Dessie had fallen to the TDF. However, control over the city was not immediately certain, with the federal government denying its capture and reports of fierce fighting coming from the town. On 31 October, the TDF claimed to have captured Kombolcha, a town east of Dessie, and the Ethiopian government accused the TDF of massacring over 100 youths in the town. On the same day, the Amhara regional government declared a state of emergency, which included a region-wide curfew.
South of Kombolcha, the OLA claimed to have seized control over Kemise on the A2 Highway which links Mekelle to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, and later declared they were considering an offensive towards the capital. The TDF claimed they also linked up with the OLA. Meanwhile, it was reported that a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans had occurred in Addis Ababa.
On 2 November 2021, as the counter-offensive came deeper into federal-controlled territory, the Ethiopian government declared a six-month state of emergency, which envisages the possibility to arrest and detain critics of the government without a court warrant, impose , institute censorship, restrict freedom of movement as well as to call any adult person to fight in the war, for fear of serving from three to ten years in prison. Authorities in Addis Ababa also told residents to register their weapons in order to fend off the anticipated offensive. Four other regional governments also made a call to arms. On 5 November, the TPLF, OLA and other rebel groups declared the creation of a nine-group coalition, called the United Front of Ethiopian Federalist and Confederalist Forces.
On 22 November, Prime Minister Abiy stated that he will be leading the fight against the rebels from the battlefront after the TDF claimed to have captured Shewa Robit, saying; "We are now in the final stages of saving Ethiopia." Many countries also urged citizens to leave the country.
On 7 January – the same day as the Dedebit airstrike – Ethiopia released a number of opposition leaders from prison, including some from the TPLF, and said they desired to have a dialogue with the Tigrayan leadership. On 26 January, the Ethiopian council of ministers also proposed to end the state of emergency.
On 27 August, the TDF captured the town of Kobo, following the ENDF's withdrawal. Ethiopia and Eritrea subsequently announced an offensive in North Tigray on 1 September. On 13 September 2022, the TPLF said Eritrea had taken Sheraro. The town's capture by Eritrea and the fighting in nearby areas displaced around 210,000 people, most of whom fled to the city of Shire. A day later Ethiopian airstrikes on Mekelle killed at least ten people. By mid-September, reports emerged of Eritrea engaging in mass mobilization of the country's reservists to be sent to Tigray.
On 20 September, the government of Tigray said Eritrea had invaded the region, and that heavy fighting was taking place across northern Tigray. The TDF had, thus far, largely resisted the offensive, and reportedly launched a counterattack to retake Sheraro. Meanwhile, Ethiopian and Eritrean forces began massing in Abala and Berhale in the Afar Region, within striking distance of Mekelle. On 27 September, an airstrike – allegedly carried out by Eritrea – struck the northern town of Adi Dairo while it was celebrating Meskel, killing at least six civilians and injured 19 more. On 2 October, the TPLF announced it had withdrawn troops from Amhara's North Wollo Zone, including Kobo, to be redeployed north to reinforce lines under heavy Eritrean attack but warned it would return if their southern border is threatened. Three days later, a second airstrike hit Adi Dairo, killing between 50 and 65 people according to aid workers in the town.
On 10 October, the TPLF claimed that Eritrea was escalating its offensive, sending more forces towards Rama, Tserona, and Zalambessa in the far north, with one aid worker saying it is the heaviest fighting since hostilities resumed. Later reports confirmed that Eritrea was intensifying its efforts to mobilize more troops for the war; it detained "elderly mothers and fathers", and sought Draft evasion. Tigray mobilized its citizens too, calling on every able-bodied person to join the fight. Amidst the three-front offensive launched by Ethiopia and Eritrea, estimates put the number of Ethiopian casualties at over 90,000 in a single month, while Tigrayan casualties were also deemed incredibly high. According to peace and conflict studies researcher Kjetil Tronvoll, it is likely that 100,000 people had been killed over the preceding few weeks, and alleged that Eritrea and Ethiopia were using human wave attacks to overwhelm Tigrayan defenses.
On 17 October, Ethiopia said that it would seize every airport and other key infrastructure in the region; that same day, the strategic city of Shire was taken by Eritrea and Ethiopia, leading to the evacuation of thousands of its inhabitants. Ethiopian forces then took Alamata and Korem in the south. By 22 October, ENDF and EDF-allied forces had also captured Adwa and Axum, even as peace talks with the TPLF were about to commence in South Africa. Witnesses from a number of towns told the Associated Press that Eritrean forces were regularly killing civilians between 23 and 29 October.
Despite important steps towards peace and deescalation being made between the government and the TPLF, Amhara and Eritrean forces continued to launch attacks on Tigrayans in the months after the agreement was signed.
On 15 December 2020, a deadly clash occurred near the Ethiopia–Sudan border, where four Sudanese soldiers were killed, and 27 others were injured. Sudan blamed Ethiopian forces and Amhara militias for the ambush, while Ethiopia claimed they were attempting to prevent a Sudanese militia from seizing Ethiopian farmlands.
In response, Sudan increased its military presence along the border, further heightening tensions between the two countries over the Al-Fashaga region, a fertile and disputed borderland territory claimed by both Sudan and Ethiopia, setting the scene for further clashes in 2021 and 2022.
A small group of parents protested in Mogadishu to demand information on their loved ones who they say they haven't seen in a year. The head of Somalia's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs asked the Somali president to investigate claims by family members that their sons had gone off to fight in Ethiopia and are now missing. In January 2021, the former deputy chief of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, Abdilsalan Guld, claimed based on sources in the Ethiopian military that Somali troops were sent to Tigray. Guld stated that the soldiers, aged from 20 to 30 years old, were secretly taken from Mogadishu and sent to Asmara for military training and that 370 had been killed. Garowe Online reported it could not verify the claims. On 19 January 2021, the Somali government denied the claim that Somali troops had fought in Tigray Region of Ethiopia.
An article in The Globe and Mail published in January 2022 claimed Somali troops were involved and they had committed atrocities in Tigray. It was alleged that before the war began, Somali forces under the leadership of the Eritrean Army had been stationed in trenches along the border. In December 2022, Somali National Army troops began returning from Eritrea back to Somalia. Voice of America reported that it was not able to find any evidence that the soldiers had been ever deployed to Tigray. Various sources have vindicated the Somali governments position that no evidence exists of SNA involvement. In January 2023, the National Security Advisor reiterated that Somali troops training in Eritrea had never participated in the Tigray war and observed that all troops had returned to Somalia.
On 4 June 2021, the non-profit Genocide Watch classified the events in Tigray as step 9 of genocide (eradication), as well as step 10 (denial). They issued another emergency alert on 20 November 2021, stating that "both sides are committing genocide", referring to detentions of thousands of people based on Oromo or Tigrayan ethnic identity, and arguing that "Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's hate speech and calls for war" together with attacks by the ENDF and TPLF put Ethiopia into stages 4 (dehumanization), 6 (polarization), 8 (persecution), and 9 (extermination) of the ten stages of genocide.
Ethnic Tigrayan members of Ethiopian components of United Nations peacekeeping missions were disarmed and some forcibly flown back to Ethiopia, at the risk of torture or execution, according to United Nations officials. The State of Emergency Taskforce stated that the Tigrayan peacekeepers were returned to Ethiopia because of "infiltration of TPLF elements in various entities." On 1 November 2021, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated that "we should closely follow those who work for the enemy and live amongst us," as reports of a new roundup of ethnic Tigrayans came out of Addis Ababa.
Often, soldiers, and militias subjected Tigrayan women and girls, including pregnant women and young girls, to rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, and other forms of sexual torture. Such sexual violence is often accompanied with other forms of physical and mental abuse, including burning their victims with hot iron or cigarettes, forcing metal rods or nails into their victim's genitals, raping their victim in front of their family members, forcing their victims to rape their family members, calling their victims by derogatory words and ethnic slurs, etc. There were also reports that Tigrayan forces had gang-raped dozens of women and underage girls in at least two towns in the Amhara Region, and girls – some as young as 14 – were identified as victims of rape in the towns of Chenna and Kobo in August and September 2021.
After being subjected to sexual violence, many women become infected with STIs like HIV, who face difficulty getting treatment due to a sense of shame, as well as the collapse of medical infrastructure caused by the war.
There was limited access to clean water due to hygiene and sanitation services largely being disrupted across Tigray. The Tigray Regional Water Bureau reported that out of 36 villages it assessed, only 4 had partially functioning water sources. Along with that, an estimated 250 motorized water pumping systems have been out of order, and the status of 11,000 hand pumps in rural areas was unknown. Because of this, there was a heightened risk of outbreaks of waterborne diseases and COVID-19.
According to the UN, in March 2021, out of more than 260 health centres in Tigray before the war, only 31 were fully functional, while 7 were partially functional. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), all of the functioning hospitals and health centres in Tigray had a lack of medical supplies, drugs, and equipment. UN partners reported continued looting of health facilities. Only 16% of the health facilities had vaccination services and only 17% had maternal services (antenatal care, birth delivery, etc.).
In late October 2022, it was revealed that the Tigray Region was running out of medical supplies, with the CEO of their largest hospital saying it was "doomed to collapse soon". WHO officials stated that childhood vaccination rates had plummeted from 90% (before the war) to under 10%.
On 31 August 2021, USAID's mission director in Ethiopia, Sean Jones said: "We do have proof that several of our warehouses have been looted and completely emptied in the areas, particularly in Amhara, where TPLF soldiers have gone into, I do believe that the TPLF has been very opportunistic," in a televised interview with state broadcaster EBC in Addis Ababa. All parties to the conflict have been accused by USAID of looting aid shipments.
By the summer of 2022, the government blockade of essential services to Tigray was still in place, and the humanitarian situation remained severe, with roughly 13 million people being in need of food aid. According to the World Food Programme, while international aid had technically been allowed into the region during the 2022 ceasefire, in practice, very little aid was reaching the people that needed it most, largely due to fuel not being made available in these area. On 25 August (one day after the war resumed), the WFP accused the TPLF of stealing 570,000 liters of fuel meant to transport humanitarian aid. On 29 October the same year, UNICEF reported that around 29.7 million people in Ethiopia were in need of humanitarian assistance.
In September 2021, the humanitarian situation continued to worsen in Tigray, Afar and Amhara Regions, due both to the armed conflict itself and due to bureaucratic obstruction. Two thousand displaced people returned to the Fantí Rasu zone in Afar Region after the ENDF and Afar Special Forces regained control and OCHA partner organisations' access to improved.
UNICEF stated that by the end of September 2022, around 574,000 more people in Afar, Amhara and Tigray were left displaced after fighting resumed in August 2022; they also reported that over 870,000 had become refugees.
Since then, the area has been under the de facto control of Amhara regional authorities. Their control has been marked by reports of ethnically motivated violence and forced displacement. By February 2021, about 45,000 civilians had been forced to leave the zone due to extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions, and the disappearances of people, especially young men. One refugee interviewed by Reuters said that if they didn't leave when they did, they would have been killed by Amhara forces. 41 other refugees interviewed have also described attacks, looting, and threats by Amhara forces.
In March 2021, Mulu Nega, then leader of the federal-government-appointed Transitional Government of Tigray, stated that Amhara de facto administrators of Western Tigray used violence against ethnic Tigrayans and forcibly displaced them. Yabsira Eshetie, the administrator of the area, denied the claims. The Amhara government also denied the reports of forced displacement and asked the Ethiopian government to modify the border between the Amhara and Tigray regions. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that there had been acts of ethnic cleansing in Tigray.
The Ethiopian government tried to control the information environment by positioning itself as the sole provider of reliable information. In February, pro-government groups called on their supporters in Ethiopia and the diaspora to combat what they called "TPLF fake news" online. Pro-government groups used tactics similar to those of pro-Tigray groups to push their narrative of the conflict, though as of 5 February, pro-government campaigns had produced fewer Tweets overall. Both Agence France-Presse and BBC News have documented examples of old or manipulated photos, which misleadingly endorsed either the federal Ethiopian government or the TPLF.
Researchers found that groups use tactics such as "copy and paste" campaigns hosted on websites, which include instructions for opening new accounts, copying and pasting pre-written tweets, and tagging influencers. Both campaigns produced disinformation and misinformation, though the majority of content produced was activist in nature. Wilmot suggested that the lines between authentic political activity and deliberate manipulation of online content during the conflict were increasingly blurred.
On 20 May 2022, Ethiopian law enforcement began arresting journalists en masse, with 4,500 people in the Amhara Region alone being taken into custody. One Amhara law enforcement official described this as a way to maintain "law and order" and "get rid of outside enemies".
The media restrictions resulted in what has been described as an "Media blackout". Many journalists, both local and international, have noted the difficulty they face in trying to report on the war, as they risk the possibility of getting either killed or imprisoned by government forces. By December 2021, the Committee to Protect Journalists described both Ethiopia and Eritrea as the worst "jailers of journalists" in sub-Saharan Africa.
On 2 November 2022, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace accord, with the African Union as a mediator, and agreed on "orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament". The agreement was made effective the next day on 3 November, marking the second anniversary of the war.
As part of this process, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed TPLF's Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray, and the Ethiopian parliament removed the TPLF from its terrorism list.
It also led to a higher rate of Maternal death and infant mortality in the Tigray Region. In a study funded by UNFPA Ethiopia and UNICEF, it was estimated that maternal mortality rates had increased from 186 deaths per 100,000 people pre-war to 840 deaths per 100,000 people post-war. A health coordinator at the Tigray Health Bureau said to Addis Standard in June 2023, that, according to their research, both maternal and infant mortality rates had regressed to the levels they were at in 2001.
According to Tigrayan health official Tsegay Gidey, 81% of mothers in the Saharti Samre woreda had , and 32 newborn infants had died between January–June 2023.
The Tigray war also damaged the country's relationship with foreign . Shortly after it began in November 2020, the European Union suspended budget support to Ethiopia (citing reports of human rights abuses), a decision they would maintain until the end of the war. The credit agency Fitch Ratings downgraded Ethiopia's credit rating in January 2023, expressing lower confidence that the Ethiopian government would be able to pay off their external debt.
Inflation hit the country hard in the months following the war. Ethiopia had an average inflation rate of 30% in 2022, largely driven by food prices; in February 2023, the overall inflation rate reached 32%; by 12 September 2023 (Enkutatash), Ethiopia continued to experience high inflation, with commonly purchased food items becoming more expensive. Although the war has not been considered the sole reason for these economic struggles, it has still been described as a contributing factor.
The Tigray Health Bureau noted that 852 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported between November and December 2022; according to aid workers and interviews with survivors, most of these were committed by Eritrean forces.
As of January 2023, over half of Irob district was occupied by Eritrea. Irob advocacy groups and former residents have described it as a "de-facto annexation" of the area. A religious Irob leader told The Guardian in August 2023 that Eritrea was blocking off international aid to the area, and lamented that "there has been no improvement for us since the peace."
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