Conflict is rising in Ethiopia’s Tigray region: 5 steps that could stop a return to full-scale war

The Ethiopian federal army and Tigrayan forces have resumed their war, having failed to turn the November 2022 peace deal into a lasting political settlement.

The Tigray war of 2020-2022 was one of the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century.

The war was driven by ethnic hatred , which the Ethiopian government and allies fomented and used to mobilise violence against Tigrayans.

The war caused enormous loss of life, mass displacement and widespread destruction.

It drew in Ethiopian federal forces, Tigrayan forces, Eritrean troops and other armed groups.

Fighting ended when the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front signed the Pretoria ceasefire deal in South Africa.

The African Union brokered the peace agreement, which the US and EU supported.

It provided for the protection of civilians and disarmament of Tigrayan forces.

Many of the political and territorial disputes that fuelled the war were left unresolved , however.

Large numbers of people remain displaced.

Territories occupied by Amhara and Eritrean forces during the war have yet to return to Tigrayan administration.

Accountability for wartime abuses has been limited, and the parties involved don’t trust each other.

In August 2026, fighting broke out again in western Tigray between Tigrayan and Ethiopian federal forces.

There have been drone strikes and attacks on civilians in southern Tigray , Mekelle and other areas.