Why Ethiopia’s new rebel alliance could transform the Tigray conflict | DW News

The battle lines in Ethiopia have dramatically changed. Armed groups that were once on opposing sides have joined a new alliance as fighting between Tigrayan forces and the federal government intensifies.

The renewed clashes come nearly four years after the Pretoria peace agreement ended the devastating Tigray war. Now the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and six other opposition groups have formed an alliance opposed to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

So what has brought former enemies together? Why has fighting erupted again? What role could neighboring Eritrea play, and could the conflict spread across the wider Horn of Africa?

DW speaks to Martin Plaut, journalist and Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London’s Department of War Studies and author of “Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War.”

Chapters:
00:00 Fighting erupts in Ethiopia four years after peace deal
00:52 Interview Martin Plaut
01:15 Why the situation could become “catastrophic”
01:50 Tigray “rebels” form new alliance with armed groups
02:18 Looking back at the original Tigray war: 600, 000 people died; lots of atrocities were committed against women
02:50 The Eritreans have changed sides: they’re now supporting the Tigrayans
03:26 Dispute over two ports between Ethiopia and Eritrea
05:09 Eritrea’s and other actors’ stake in the conflict
06:32 Wider impact of a possible Red Sea blockade

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