Hundreds Flee Into Sudan as Fresh Fighting Erupts in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

GOOBJOOG NEWS|KHARTOUM/ADDIS ABABA: Hundreds of people from Ethiopia’s Tigray region, including wounded fighters, have fled into neighboring Sudan following heavy clashes between Ethiopian federal forces and fighters of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in the Shererina area of northern Ethiopia.

The fighting, which erupted on Saturday morning, reportedly involved heavy artillery and drone strikes, raising fears that the 2022 peace agreement that ended the devastating Tigray war could be at risk.

The TPLF accused the Ethiopian government of launching the offensive and carrying out a large-scale ground assault. Federal authorities and Tigrayan forces have been locked in a military standoff along the northern border of the region for months, with each side accusing the other of seeking to reignite the conflict.

Sudanese media reported that loud explosions and sustained gunfire were heard along the Ethiopia-Sudan border. Some artillery shells or drone strikes were also reported to have landed near refugee camps sheltering displaced Ethiopians.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) expressed deep concern over the escalating tensions along the Ethiopia-Sudan border, warning that renewed hostilities could endanger the lives of thousands of refugees living in the area.

The latest violence has revived fears that Ethiopia could slide back into a large-scale civil conflict less than four years after the end of the Tigray war. The African Union has previously estimated that the conflict claimed at least 600,000 lives and displaced millions of people before the 2022 peace agreement brought major hostilities to an end.