The conflict in Ethiopia

These refugees fled to Sudan after fighting broke out in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region last month.

More than 50,000 people now live in camps like this one.

Drone footage from the Village 8 refugee camp in Sudan.

The conflict in Ethiopia

Fighting erupted on Nov. 4 when forces loyal to the former ruling party in Tigray launched simultaneous attacks on military bases across the region, killing soldiers and seizing military hardware, according to the government. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the movement fighting the government, denies starting the conflict but says it is fighting back on a number of fronts.

The fighting is believed to have killed thousands of people and displaced over 950,000, some 50,000 of them into neighbouring Sudan, according to United Nations (U.N.) and local government estimates. The government said it regained control of the regional capital, Mekelle, and other cities at the end of November. TPLF leaders said they had withdrawn from Mekelle but fighting continued elsewhere.

After a five-week communications blackout, some phone links to the region were restored in mid-December. But communications remain patchy, and the government tightly controls access, making it nearly impossible to verify claims by all sides.

The war has deepened divisions in Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation and a diplomatic heavyweight in a volatile region. Ethiopia hosts the headquarters of the African Union, and its troops serve in peacekeeping missions in South Sudan and Somalia, where the government is battling an al Qaeda-linked insurgency.

The mountainous region of Tigray accounts for fewer than 6% of Ethiopia’s 115 million people. But the TPLF’s leading role in toppling a Marxist dictatorship in 1991 gave the party outsized influence over Ethiopia’s government, armed forces and businesses for nearly three decades. Complaints about the TPLF’s increasingly autocratic rule ignited years of anti-government protests that eventually propelled Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018.

Eritrea

Red

Sea

Sana’a

Khartoum

Asmara

Sudan

Yemen

Tigray

DJIBOUTI

Djibouti City

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

South

Sudan

Somalia

Kenya

100 km

100 km

Red

Sea

Eritrea

Khartoum

Sana’a

Asmara

Sudan

Yemen

Tigray

DJIBOUTI

Djibouti City

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

South

Sudan

Juba

Somalia

Arabian

Sea

Kenya

Uganda

Mogadishu

200 km

Red

Sea

Sudan

Eritrea

Khartoum

Asmara

Yemen

Tigray

DJIBOUTI

Djibouti City

Addis Ababa

Ethiopia

South

Sudan

Somalia

Kenya

One of Abiy’s first moves was to sign a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, which borders Tigray, ending two decades of hostilities stemming from a 1998-2000 war. However, the TPLF and Eritrea remain arch enemies.

In November, the TPLF fired rockets into Eritrea four times after accusing Eritrea of sending soldiers into Tigray to support Abiy’s campaign. Ethiopia and Eritrea both deny this, but the U.S. State Department said the accusations were “credible”.

Tigray’s only other international border is with Sudan, where refugees have been crossing a river separating the two nations, either by swimming or in boats.

A group of women and children stand on the river bank in the foreground; one woman holds a basket of clothes over her head. Four people are aboard a boat in the river, and two people are in the river.
Refugees stand on the bank of a river that separates Sudan from Ethiopia, near the Hamdayet transit camp.

Violence elsewhere

Even before the conflict in Tigray, Abiy faced periodic outbreaks of violence across the country. His efforts to loosen the government’s grip on politics also emboldened regional power brokers and inflamed smouldering rivalries over resources, ethnicity and land, analysts said. Those struggles are expected to worsen as elections approach next year. Abiy has blamed much of the violence on TPLF operatives.

Violent incidents

100 km

50

June 22, 2019, Amhara region

Amhara leader Ambachew

Mekonnen, two top officials

killed during regional coup

attempt.

25

10

1 event

September 2020,

Beninshangul-

Gumuz region

At least 30 killed in

militia attacks

June-July 2020, Oromiya region

At least 178 killed in protests after

popular Oromo musician

Haacaaluu Hundeessaa killed

Tigray

October 2019,

Oromiya region

At least 67 killed in

protests after police

try to withdraw

popular activist’s

bodyguards.

Ethiopia

July 2019, Sidama region

At least 17 killed in unrest

linked to Sidama region’s

autonomy bid

June 22, 2019, Addis Ababa

Army chief General Seare

Mekonnen shot dead

by his bodyguard

200 km

Violent incidents

50

25

June 22, 2019, Amhara region

Amhara leader, 2 officials killed

in regional coup attempt

10

1 event

June-July 2020,

Oromiya region

At least 178 die in

protests after popular

musician killed

September 2020,

Beninshangul-

Gumuz region

At least 30 killed in

militia attacks

Tigray

October 2019,

Oromiya region

At least 67 killed in

protests after police

try to withdraw

popular activist’s

bodyguards.

Ethiopia

June 22, 2019,

Addis Ababa

Army chief shot

dead by bodyguard

July 2019, Sidama region

At least 17 killed in unrest

linked to Sidama region’s

autonomy bid

Source: Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Data from April 2, 2018 – Nov. 3, 2020.

Thousands of people have been killed in sporadic bouts of violence across Ethiopia since Abiy took office on April 2, 2018.

Internally displaced people

100 km

50,000 IDPs

10,000

1,000

Eritrea

Sudan

Yemen

Tigray

DJIBOUTI

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa

South

Sudan

Somalia

Kenya

200 km

Internally displaced people

50,000 IDPs

10,000

1,000

Sudan

Eritrea

Yemen

Tigray

DJIBOUTI

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa

South

Sudan

Somalia

Kenya

Source: International Organization for Migration. Data as of July 2020.

About 2 million Ethiopians had already fled their homes before the war in Tigray began – some because of conflicts elsewhere and others due to floods and drought.

War breaks out in Tigray

The early days of the conflict were filled with confusion. Government forces were overwhelmed in some locations and thousands of troops taken prisoner, according to accounts from soldiers that trickled out. Radio communications were cut, and some Tigrayan soldiers serving in the military turned on their comrades, government and military officials said. TPLF officials denied starting the conflict, but said some soldiers did join them. Accounts from the government and TPLF frequently conflict.

Locations of major clashes

confirmed by both sides confirmed by one side

50 km

ERITREA

Sero

Tigray

Dansha

Mekelle

Kirakir

ETHIOPIA

Nov. 4-8

Fighting erupted in the early hours of Nov. 4. TPLF forces attacked military bases across Tigray, after jamming communications, the government said. The TPLF also took control of the headquarters of the military’s Northern Command in Mekelle, seizing tanks, anti-aircraft guns and missile systems, it said. Some government soldiers retreated into Eritrea, where they received help before returning, Abiy said in an address to parliament. The military counter-attacked, mainly from the west and south. Neighbouring Amhara region, which has a border dispute with Tigray, sent special forces to fight alongside federal troops.

50 km

ERITREA

Humera

Mai Kadra

Tigray

ETHIOPIA

Alamata

Nov. 9-13

Residents of the northern border town of Humera said they were shelled from Eritrea, which the country denies. Fighter jets bombed military targets across Tigray, the government said. The TPLF said civilian infrastructure was also hit. On Nov. 9-10, more than 700 civilians were stabbed, strangled and bludgeoned to death in the western town of Mai Kadra, the state-appointed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said. It said a Tigrayan youth group carried out the attack against ethnic Amharans, with the collusion of local security forces. Tigrayan refugees in Sudan told Reuters they were targeted by Amhara special forces and a civilian militia. The government and TPLF deny their forces were involved in the killings.

50 km

Asmara

ERITREA

Badme

Zalambessa

Rama

Adi Dairo

Adigrat

Adwa

Idaga

Hamus

Shire

Axum

Tigray

Mekelle

ETHIOPIA

Yala Woreda

Gondar

airport

Alamata

Raya

Kobo

Bahir Dar airport

Nov. 14-22

The TPLF said it fired rockets at Eritrea’s capital, Asmara, and the airports of Bahir Dar and Gondar in Amhara on Nov. 14. As federal troops advanced on Mekelle from the west, north and south, the TPLF ignored ultimatums to surrender. Heavy fighting was reported around the southern town of Alamata and Idaga Hamus to the north. Air strikes were reported around Mekelle. Estimates from regional diplomats and humanitarian workers of the number of people killed soared into the thousands.

50 km

ERITREA

Wukro

Tigray

Abiy Addi

Mekelle

Raya-Wajirat

ETHIOPIA

Nov. 23-29

Federal troops entered Mekelle on Nov. 28, after the TPLF withdrew without putting up a fight, the government and residents said. Abiy said not a single civilian was killed in the campaign; doctors in Mekelle said at least 27 died there. The government said military operations ended after Mekelle’s fall. But the TPLF said it was still fighting from mountains outside the city, including in the towns of Wukro and Abiy Addi.

A humanitarian crisis

Aid agencies have warned of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Tigray, where about 600,000 people depended on food aid before the war started. U.N. and other agencies were unable to access the region for more than a month. Ethiopian refugees arriving in Sudan described heavy shelling in the towns they escaped.

“We are miserably broken by what is happening there. We have lost everything,” Gebrahid Welderfael, a farmer sheltering at Sudan’s Um Rakuba refugee camp, told Reuters. “The one thing we have is that we saved our lives, but we’re suffering here, and we’re not much better off than those who died."

25 km

Refugee camps

Eritrea

New camps

Existing camps

Camps for

Eritrean refugees

Hamdayet

Tekeze

river

Sudan

Shimelba

Hitsats

al-Luqdi

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Mai Aini

Abderafi

New refugee

camp planned

Adi Harush

Um Rakuba

Amhara

ethiopia

Lake

Tana

Wad al Mahi

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

25 km

Refugee camps

Eritrea

New camps

Existing camps

Camps for

Eritrean refugees

Tekeze

river

Hamdayet

Sudan

Shimelba

al-Luqdi

Hitsats

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

Mai Aini

Adi Harush

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

Amhara

Lake

Tana

ethiopia

Wad al Mahi

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

25 km

Refugee camps

New camps

Eritrea

Existing camps

Camps for

Eritrean refugees

Tekeze

river

Sudan

Hamdayet

Shimelba

al-Luqdi

Hitsats

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

Mai Aini

Adi Harush

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

AFAR

Amhara

Lake

Tana

ethiopia

Wad al Mahi

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

Addis Ababa

25 km

Refugee camps

New camps

Existing camps

Camps for

Eritrean refugees

Sudan

Eritrea

Hamdayet

Tigray

Tekeze

river

Shimelba

Village 8

al-Luqdi

Hitsats

Tenedba

Mai Aini

Abderafi

New refugee

camp planned

Adi Harush

Amhara

Um Rakuba

ethiopia

Lake

Tana

Wad al Mahi

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIyA

Refugee camps

25 km

New camps

Eritrea

Existing camps

Camps for

Eritrean refugees

Tekeze

river

Hamdayet

Sudan

Shimelba

al-Luqdi

Hitsats

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

Mai Aini

Adi Harush

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

AFAR

Amhara

Lake

Tana

ethiopia

Wad al Mahi

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

25 km

Refugee camps

Eritrea

New camps

Existing camps

Hamdayet

35,762 new

refugee arrivals

Tekeze

river

Sudan

al-Luqdi

13,602

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

1,002

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

About 10,000 refugees

transferred to new camp

from border crossings

Amhara

ethiopia

Lake

Tana

Wad al Mahi

702

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIyA

25 km

Refugee camps

Eritrea

New camps

Existing camps

Hamdayet

35,762 new

refugee arrivals

Tekeze

river

Sudan

al-Luqdi

13,602

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

1,002

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

About 10,000 refugees

transferred to new camp

from border crossings

Amhara

Lake

Tana

ethiopia

Wad al Mahi

702

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

25 km

Refugee camps

New camps

Eritrea

Existing camps

Hamdayet

35,762 new

refugee arrivals

Tekeze

river

Sudan

al-Luqdi

13,602

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

1,002

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

About 10,000 refugees

transferred to new camp

from border crossings

AFAR

Amhara

Lake

Tana

Wad al Mahi

702

ethiopia

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

Addis Ababa

25 km

Refugee camps

New camps

Existing camps

Sudan

Eritrea

Hamdayet

35,762 new

refugee arrivals

Tigray

Tekeze

river

al-Luqdi

13,602

Village 8

Tenedba

Abderafi

1,002

New refugee

camp planned

Amhara

Um Rakuba

About 10,000 refugees

transferred to new camp

from border crossings

ethiopia

Lake

Tana

Wad al Mahi

702

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIyA

Refugee camps

25 km

New camps

Eritrea

Existing camps

Hamdayet

35,762 new

refugee arrivals

Tekeze

river

Sudan

al-Luqdi

13,602

Village 8

Tigray

Tenedba

Abderafi

1,002

New refugee

camp planned

Um Rakuba

About 10,000 refugees

transferred to new camp

from border crossings

AFAR

Amhara

Lake Tana

Wad al Mahi

702

ethiopia

BENishangul-

gumuz

OROMIYA

Thousands flee to Sudan

In the early weeks of the conflict, refugees from western Tigray surged into Sudan. The Sudanese army is helping move them to more established camps to the west.

As the conflict moved on, the numbers slowed to a trickle. Some refugees told aid workers in Sudan that gunmen on the Ethiopian side had tried to prevent them from crossing. The government denies this, noting that many refugees reached Sudan.

Eritrean refugees in Tigray

U.N. officials have also expressed concern for some 96,000 Eritrean refugees who were living in camps in Tigray. As of Dec. 17, the government had not permitted the United Nations to access the camps. The U.N. refugee agency believes food ran out there in early December, and refugees at the southern camp of Adi Harush told Reuters by phone this month that there was nothing to eat.

Filippo Grandi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said his agency had received an overwhelming number of reports of refugees being killed, abducted or forcibly returned to Eritrea. Ethiopia and Eritrea both deny this.

Eritrea

Tekeze

river

Hamdayet

Sudan

Tigray

ethiopia

Hamdayet refugee camp
Nearly a third of the growing refugee population are children

An estimated 31% of the refugees in Sudan are children, UNHCR says. Aid agencies set up temporary teaching facilities in some camps.


Ethiopians fleeing Tigray arrive by boat in Sudan.

Eritrea

Tekeze

river

Sudan

Tigray

Um Rakuba

ethiopia

Um Rakuba refugee camp
Food shortage in camps

The United Nations says more food is needed for the refugees. Hot meals and other rations have been handed out, but UNHCR says it is struggling to keep up.


Refugees wait in lines for a meal at the Um Rakuba refugee camp.

Eritrea

Tekeze

river

Village 8

Sudan

Tigray

ethiopia

Village 8 refugee camp
Struggle to access healthcare

Aid workers are scrambling to get medical care to refugees in Sudan and say there are shortages of everything from medicines to beds, laboratories and ambulances. At the Hamdayet camp, on Sudan’s border with Tigray, diarrhoea, malaria and respiratory tract infections are common, UNHCR reports.


Abeyam Gberedanos, who was born as her parents fled Ethiopia, sleeps at the Village 8 camp.

Calls are mounting for independent investigations into reports that civilians were targeted by fighters on both sides. Each side accuses the other of carrying out such attacks and denies that its forces are responsible. Ethiopia’s government has said it is capable of investigating any abuses itself.

The government declared victory over the TPLF after taking control of Mekelle. It has appointed an interim administration and pledged to rebuild infrastructure destroyed in the conflict.

The TPLF, however, has vowed to fight on. Most of its top leaders – including high-ranking military officials – remain at large. There is little incentive for them to surrender; they face long prison terms. The government has rejected all offers to mediate the conflict, calling it an internal law enforcement matter.

Sources

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; International Organization for Migration; Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)​; Natural Earth; Global Land Analysis & Discovery; NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; Reuters reporting.

Edited by

Alexandra Zavis, Jon McClure and Mike Collett-White

Additional reporting by the Addis Ababa newsroom.