Ethiopia Accuses Eritrea, Sudan And Egypt Of Backing Tigray Rebels As Fighting Escalates

The head of Ethiopia’s army has accused neighboring Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt of supporting rebel forces that have captured several strategic towns in renewed fighting in the country’s north, prompting denials and raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

Field Marshal Birhanu Jula, chief of the general staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force, on Friday accused Eritrea of mobilising financial support for the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

Birhanu said Eritrea and the TPLF would require support from Sudan and Egypt, suggesting outside involvement in the conflict but providing no further details.

The TPLF and Ethiopian federal forces fought a devastating war from November 2020 to November 2022, when the two sides signed a peace agreement in Pretoria, South Africa. A caretaker administration viewed as loyal to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was subsequently installed in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray. However, tensions persisted as the TPLF sought greater political influence in the city.

Over the weekend, TPLF fighters captured the strategically important town of Erebti in the northern Afar region, according to a commander who spoke to The Associated Press on Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

An official with the Tigray Peace Force, a breakaway faction of the Tigray rebels now allied with federal forces in Afar, also confirmed that the rebels had taken control of the town, while denying that heavy fighting had occurred.

Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said Monday that the number of wounded people receiving treatment in northern Ethiopia had surged.

Patient numbers at hospitals in Korem and Alamata increased from around 180 to more than 420 within 48 hours. MSF said about 300 wounded people had arrived at Suhul Hospital in northeastern Ethiopia the previous week.

Valerie Browning, co-founder of the Afar Pastoralist Development Association, told AP that around 150,000 people had been displaced by the fighting.

Ethiopian federal authorities have accused the TPLF of seeking to form an alliance with Eritrea to destabilise Ethiopia. Abiy’s push for sovereign access to the Eritrean port of Assab has further strained relations with Eritrea, which borders Tigray. His efforts to negotiate access to the sea through Somaliland have also angered Somalia.

Eritrea rejected Ethiopia’s accusations. Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Meskel said on X that Ethiopia’s pursuit of access to the sea had unsettled Eritrea and Somalia. He also accused Ethiopia of hosting militia training in support of forces fighting Sudan’s military, putting Addis Ababa at odds with its neighbours.

Sudan’s armed forces also rejected the Ethiopian allegations. In a statement, a spokesperson accused Ethiopia of supporting militias fighting the Sudanese military, apparently referring to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been at war with Sudan’s army since 2023.

Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces against the TPLF during the 2020-2022 Tigray war. Researchers at Ghent University estimated that about 500,000 people died during the conflict, including deaths linked to violence, famine and the collapse of health services.