TPLF faction seizes two key Tigray towns, escalating tensions and raising fears of renewed conflict. The interim government urges federal intervention, while leaders dispute the crisis's link to the Pretoria Peace Agreement.

The interim government of Ethiopia’s Tigray region has called on the Ethiopian federal government to intervene after a faction of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) seized control of two major towns. The takeover has left several people wounded and raised fears of a potential return to civil war.

On Tuesday, the TPLF faction captured Adigrat, the second-largest town in Tigray, and installed a new administrator, replacing the one loyal to the interim government. By Wednesday night, the faction had also taken control of Adi-Gudem, a town near the regional capital, Mekele. During the takeover in Adi-Gudem, several people sustained gunshot wounds when armed forces attempted to occupy a government building.

The TPLF waged a brutal two-year war against federal forces, which ended in November 2022 with the signing of a peace agreement and the establishment of a TPLF-led interim government. The conflict, which began in November 2020, is believed to have killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and left many on the brink of famine in Africa’s second-most populous country.

However, since the war ended, divisions have emerged within the TPLF. In October, the party’s leader, Debretsion Gebremichael, expelled the head of the interim government, Getachew Reda, along with four members of his cabinet.

In response, Reda, who was the chief negotiator of the peace agreement, temporarily suspended four senior military commanders whom he believed to be aligned with Gebremichael’s faction.

“The region may be on the brink of another crisis,” stated the Tigray Communication Affairs Bureau, which is part of the interim government, in a statement released on Wednesday.

Reda has described the TPLF’s recent actions as a “potential coup attempt.”

In a televised interview, he stressed the importance of international oversight, given that the international community is one of the key guarantors of the Pretoria Peace Agreement. He urged global actors to closely monitor the escalating situation in Tigray.

“The parties to the Pretoria Agreement should really take into account the deteriorating situation in Tigray and the far-reaching ramifications of the unraveling of the Pretoria agreements,” Reda said.

Meanwhile, TPLF deputy chairman Amanuel Assefa told The Associated Press that the current crisis is not related to the Pretoria Agreement but is primarily a law enforcement matter.

“The TPLF and the Tigray forces are the rightful owners of the Pretoria Agreement. Therefore, there is no reason to engage in any actions that would violate it,” Assefa stated.