Ethiopian army says 272 Tigrayan fighters killed in Amhara

Tigray-peoples-liberation-front" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="176389" data-entity-type="organization">Tigray People’s Liberation Front says in a ‘situation of full-blown war’ with Ethiopia’s government.Ethiopia’s army says it has killed at least 272 fighters from the Tigray-peoples-liberation-front" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="176389" data-entity-type="organization">Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in a counter-offensive in the country’s northwest Amhara region.The Ethiopian National Defence Force said on Thursday that another 260 Tigrayan fighters were wounded and several were captured.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Can Ethiopia’s seven-group rebel alliance challenge Abiy Ahmed?list 2 of 3Ethiopia warns of ‘destruction’ as Tigray rebels launch offensivelist 3 of 3Fighting widens across Ethiopia as Tigray clashes escalateend of list“Government forces launched a counter-offensive that inflicted heavy personnel and equipment losses on the TPLF” after the group and its allies attacked several areas of North Wollo, a region of Amhara that borders Tigray, the army said in a statement on Facebook.The intensification came days after TPLF and six other armed groups from across Ethiopia announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which committed itself to removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.The coalition brought together the newly-formed Amhara-fano-national-movement" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="207269" data-entity-type="organization">Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army and other movements from the Somali, Afar and Benishangul-Gumuz regional states.Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed [File: Sergei Bulkin/Sputnik via AP Photo]‘Full-blown war’“We are in the situation of full-blown war now,” TPLF Vice President Amanuel Assefa told AFP news agency on Thursday.He confirmed that Tigrayan forces were fighting alongside local armed groups in Afar and Amhara.The alliance marks a striking realignment that had been almost a year in the making, bringing together armed groups with very different histories and grievances against the central government, including forces with histories of conflict among themselves.