There are around five million inhabitants in the region of Tigray, which represents five per cent of Ethiopia’s total population. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that over ten per cent of that number are currently in need of food aid, with others warning that number could increase significantly if the conflict continues.

The conflict stems over demands by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a political party, that the Tigray region be given autonomy from the rest of Ethiopia. The TPLF had, until recently, ruled the country and, in September, held regional elections in defiance of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s insistence that all elections be postponed until 2021.

The escalation from unauthorised election to armed conflict started last week with federal troops amassing at the Tigray border and regional troops raiding a federal military base for arms. 

Ahmed has shuffled the top tiers of the federal government, replacing the sitting foreign minister, head of intelligence, and army chief with his close allies. Ahmed heads a coalition government and is seen as consolidating his power in response to the events in Tigray.

The violence in Ethiopia appears to be political and ethnic in nature. Innocent civilians are dying and the government has not been able to protect its citizens.

Source: persecution.org

Image: bbc.com