The Tigray war
War between the federal government, backed by Eritrea and Amhara forces, and Tigray's ruling TPLF becomes one of the deadliest conflicts of the century, with massacres, sexual violence and famine.
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region — Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2021)
- "We Will Erase You From This Land": Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia's Western Tigray Zone — Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (2022)
- Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF — African Union (2022)
- Tigray war has seen up to half a million dead from violence and starvation, say researchers — Geoffrey York, The Globe and Mail (2022)
Tensions between Abiy’s government and the TPLF, which had dominated Ethiopia until 2018, grew through 2019 and 2020. When the federal government postponed national elections because of COVID-19, Tigray held its own regional vote in September 2020, which Addis Ababa declared illegal. On the night of 3–4 November 2020, Tigrayan forces attacked federal military bases in the region, and the government launched a military offensive. Eritrean troops and Amhara regional forces and militias joined the fight on the federal side.
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Ethiopia — Encyclopaedia Britannica
The war’s first months brought massacres of civilians, including at Axum in November 2020, widespread sexual violence, and the destruction of hospitals, factories and crops. In Western Tigray, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented what they called a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Tigrayans by Amhara officials and forces. In mid-2021 Tigrayan forces retook most of Tigray and pushed into the Amhara and Afar regions, where they too were accused of killings, rape and looting. Tigray was largely cut off from food, fuel, banking, telecommunications and medicine for much of the war.
- "We Will Erase You From This Land": Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia's Western Tigray Zone — Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (2022)
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region — Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2021)
On 2 November 2022 the government and the TPLF signed a cessation of hostilities in Pretoria, brokered by the African Union.
- Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities between the Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF — African Union (2022)
No one knows how many died. In early 2022 researchers at Ghent University led by Jan Nyssen estimated that up to half a million people had died in Tigray from direct killings, starvation and lack of health care, and the AU’s mediator, Olusegun Obasanjo, later spoke of around 600,000 deaths. Other researchers produced lower estimates, in the order of 100,000 or more, and deaths in Amhara and Afar are poorly counted. All agree the toll was enormous.
- Tigray war has seen up to half a million dead from violence and starvation, say researchers — Geoffrey York, The Globe and Mail (2022)
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
The TPLF, which had lost national power in 2018, defied the federal government by holding its own election in 2020 and then attacked the army's Northern Command on 3–4 November 2020; the operation was a necessary "law enforcement" response to an armed rebellion.
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Ethiopia — Encyclopaedia Britannica
The war was a long-planned campaign by Abiy's government and Eritrea to crush Tigray, carried out through massacres, mass rape, the expulsion of Tigrayans from Western Tigray and a siege that used starvation as a weapon.
- "We Will Erase You From This Land": Crimes Against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia's Western Tigray Zone — Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International (2022)
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
When Tigrayan forces advanced into the Amhara and Afar regions in 2021 they too killed civilians, committed sexual violence and looted. Many Amhara also regard Western Tigray (Welkait) as historically Amhara land taken by the TPLF in 1991.
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region — Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2021)
Joint Ethiopian-UN and UN-appointed investigators found serious violations by all parties, some of which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a method of war.
- Report of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia — UN Human Rights Council (2022)
- Report of the EHRC/OHCHR Joint Investigation into Alleged Violations of International Human Rights, Humanitarian and Refugee Law Committed by All Parties to the Conflict in the Tigray Region — Ethiopian Human Rights Commission and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (2021)
Why it matters today
The war ended with the Pretoria agreement of November 2022, but its wounds are fresh and deeply divisive. Tigrayans mourn huge losses and many remain displaced, with the status of Western Tigray still disputed. Many Amhara and Afar also suffered and feel their losses are overlooked. People's accounts of who started it and who is to blame differ sharply, and it is best approached with care.