Fighting breaks out in western Tigray as Ethiopia and TPLF trade blame

Clashes near Sheraro mark one of the most serious threats yet to the fragile 2022 Pretoria peace deal.Fighting has broken out in western Tigray, in one of the most serious breaches yet of the three-year-old peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and fighters in the northern region.Tigray’s regional government said in a statement from Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, that federal forces opened the assault at dawn on Saturday, advancing from the direction of Sheraro, near the Sudanese border.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US government mislabels countries on map of Africa at global conferencelist 2 of 3Who is driving diplomacy in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, and why?list 3 of 3Why is Uganda experiencing a food crisis?end of listAbraham Belay, a government minister who led Tigray’s transitional government during the war, confirmed the clashes but accused Tigray-peoples-liberation-front" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="176389" data-entity-type="organization">Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) chairman Debretsion Gebremichael’s forces of starting them.“Enough war! Let us resolve our differences through dialogue,” he said in a post on Facebook.The fighting follows months of deteriorating relations between Addis Ababa and the TPLF, the party that ruled Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018.Both sides have accused each other of failing to implement the provisions of the 2022 peace agreement.Tigrayan authorities said Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party has waged a long blockade and drone campaign against the region, adding that this had now escalated into full-scale war.The regional government urged Tigrayan forces, civil society and religious institutions to prepare for a struggle it called one of national survival, using the slogan “No to National Destruction”.Getachew Reda, a former TPLF spokesman who now advises Abiy, separately urged the Tigray Defence Forces commanders to abandon Debretsion, accusing him of relying on Eritrea and Amhara’s Fano militia to force his way back to power.