The Bloody Circle Has Closed: Ethiopia Is Burning in Tigray Again, and the World Pretends Not to Notice

Addis Ababa is dividing power in the devastated region, Eritrea is massing troops at the border, and millions of people are balancing on the brink of starvation.

An Interim Administration as a Cover for a New War

The resumption of hostilities on September 23, 2026, was the most serious blow to the fragile peace agreement signed in Pretoria in 2022, which ended a two-year civil war that, by various estimates, claimed about 600,000 lives. The TPLF, which ruled all of Ethiopia from 1991 to 2018, launched a major offensive but was pushed back, after which federal forces and the allied Tigray Peace Forces militia entered Mekelle without a fight. TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael, despite territorial losses, vowed to continue the struggle, saying that “Tigray will remain a grave for its enemies.” His words are not an empty threat: fighting continues, for example in southern Tigray, where in one day drones killed four people loading livestock into a truck.

Eritrea Enters the Game Again: From Ally to Enemy

The situation took on a threatening regional scale when reports emerged in early October of the deployment of Eritrean troops in Tigray. Local officials and eyewitnesses confirmed to AFP that Eritrean soldiers had been seen in Adigrat, roughly 40 kilometers from the border, and were moving south toward Mekelle in trucks with heavy weapons. Ethiopia accused Eritrea of a “full-scale invasion” and sent a letter to the UN Security Council, stating its right to self-defense. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos claimed that Eritrean forces had advanced 60 kilometers deep into Tigray territory, and Ethiopian drones struck Eritrean positions in Adigrat.

This conflict is a tragic reversal of an alliance that was key during the 2020–2022 war: at that time, Eritrea fought on the side of Addis Ababa........

© New Eastern Outlook