Ethiopia’s army promises restraint amid fears of new civil war

Ethiopia's federal military said it is responding with "wisdom and restraint" to rising tensions in the country's north, as clashes that began in Tigray have spread into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. In his first public comments on the recent fighting, Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Berhanu Jula accused Eritrea of financing and supporting armed groups he described as extensions of long-standing hostile alliances. Eritrea denied those allegations.

The latest phase of violence followed an announcement by seven armed groups that they had formed the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival and were committed to removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. Government forces have reported intense fighting in Afar around Abala while also conducting operations in North Wollo, a zone of Amhara bordering Tigray.

The army said a counter-offensive in North Wollo resulted in 272 Tigrayan fighters killed and 260 wounded, describing heavy losses for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The TPLF's Tigray Army, however, said the federal government has launched a "full-scale offensive" employing infantry, mechanised units and drones. Fighting was also reported around Sama, Soqota and Raya Alamata, with government forces said to be closing in on the town of Alamata.

Authorities reported internet access was cut across northern Ethiopia, and the United Nations expressed alarm at reports that drones had been used against civilians. Observers and officials have warned the renewed violence is putting the 2022 Pretoria Agreement under severe strain; that deal ended a two-year war in Tigray. The outbreak of hostilities comes weeks after Washington lifted sanctions on Ethiopia and Eritrea related to atrocities from the earlier conflict, saying the national emergency had expired.

At the UN General Assembly, Ethiopia's president framed the country as a regional stabiliser and accused unnamed external actors of interference. Meanwhile, legal scholar Alemayehu Weldemariam told Al Jazeera that the federal government bears significant responsibility for the collapse of the Pretoria Agreement, citing restrictions on fuel, services and cash to Tigray and the government's failure to establish the interim administration the agreement had stipulated.