Fighting in Ethiopia intensifies: What’s the latest?

Government forces and their allies in Ethiopia say they had taken control of a strategic town in the conflict-hit northern region of Tigray after days of fighting with rebel forces across multiple fronts.

The Tigray Peace Force, an armed group composed of Tigrayan fighters aligned with the federal government, said in a statement on Facebook that they had captured the town of Alamata with the national army.

Fighting has intensified across northern Ethiopia in the past week amid renewed hostilities between the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and its allies, shattering the fragile Pretoria Agreement, a peace deal signed in November 2022.

In the previous fighting from 2020 to 2022, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and millions displaced.

Here is what you need to know about the latest developments:

What is the latest with the fighting?

On Monday, the Tigray Peace Force said its fighters had captured Alamata, a strategic town about 120km (75 miles) south of Tigray’s capital, Mekelle. Video verified by the Reuters news agency showed soldiers walking through Alamata carrying Ethiopian flags.

Two diplomatic sources also told Reuters the town had fallen while a source linked to opposition forces said they were retreating.

The latest fighting erupted last week when Tigrayan rebel forces launched a major offensive, seizing three airports in Tigray and pushing into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. The TPLF says it is fighting a “defensive war”, accusing federal forces of attacks using drones and heavy artillery.

Federal government forces and their allies have since counterattacked.

The headquarters of Tigrai TV, seen as the key outlet for the rebel authorities in Mekelle, was hit by a drone on Sunday.

Where is the fighting taking place?

The fighting has occurred on several fronts across northern Ethiopia, stretching across Tigray, Amhara and Afar.

Alamata is particularly important because it sits near Tigray’s southern border with Amhara and serves as a supply hub for troops, fuel and food. Its capture could allow federal forces to push north towards Mekelle.

A military source told Al Jazeera that government forces had already advanced and were heading towards or surrounding the Tigrayan capital.

Meanwhile, TPLF forces seized Erebti, a strategically important town in the Afar region, over the weekend, according to an Ethiopian commander who spoke to The Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity.

The Tigray Peace Force also acknowledged that Erebti had fallen to the TPLF but disputed reports that the takeover followed intense fighting, according to AP.

The offensive in Afar could threaten supply routes from Djibouti, through which most Ethiopian imports, including fuel, pass.

The fighting in Afar also comes amid allegations of direct Eritrean involvement. Al Jazeera’s Taha Tawakul, reporting from Afar, said its governor told Al Jazeera that Eritrean forces were participating in the fighting, controlled more than two-thirds of the region and were moving to cut the road linking Djibouti and Eritrea.

“The situation is, therefore, extremely dangerous, and perhaps in the coming hours, the federal government will intervene alongside the Afar regional government,” Tawakul reported.

The Eritrean government has yet to respond to the governor’s allegations.

Fighting has also spread into Amhara, including around North Wollo. The Ethiopian military said about 270 Tigrayan fighters have been killed and more than 200 wounded there.

What is the humanitarian situation on the ground?

The fighting is already taking a devastating humanitarian toll.

Doctors Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, on Monday said there had been a surge in the number of wounded in the north.

The number of patients in the Korem and Alamata hospitals rose from about 180 to more than 420 in 48 hours. MSF said 300 wounded had arrived at Suhul Hospital last week.

Internet and phone networks have also been disrupted in Tigray.

The cofounder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, Valerie Browning, told AP that about 150,000 people had been displaced since the latest fighting began.

Who are the actors involved?

At the centre of the conflict are Abiy’s government and the TPLF, which dominated Ethiopian politics for nearly three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018.

War broke out in November 2020 between the TPLF and federal forces.

The two-year conflict took a devastating human toll. Former Nigerian President and African Union mediator Olusegun Obasanjo estimated that 600,000 people were killed although other assessments have given different death tolls.

Days before the latest offensive, the TPLF joined six other armed groups to form the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which said it wants to remove Abiy’s government and establish a transitional administration.

The coalition includes the Oromo Liberation Army and the Amhara Fano National Movement, bringing together groups that have previously fought one another.

The conflict also risks drawing in Ethiopia’s neighbours. Ethiopia’s army chief, Field Marshal Berhanu Jula, has accused Eritrea of supporting the opposition and alleged that Sudan and Egypt are also providing backing.

Eritrea and Sudan have denied the allegations. Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Nader Zaki told Reuters that its policy was based on “full respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of states”.

In a post on X, Sudan described the accusations by Ethiopia’s government as “baseless and unfounded”, asserting that they lacked any “foundation or evidence”.