Arabic version: رئيس أركان الجيش الإثيوبي يتهم إريتريا والسودان

According to France 24, Ethiopia’s army chief has accused Eritrea and Sudan of supporting armed groups fighting federal troops as heavy clashes with Tigrayan rebels intensified in the country’s north. Field Marshal Birhanu Jula said the forces confronting the army were organised and allied in the interests of external powers.

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, said it was fighting a “defensive war” against the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The group has seized airports and launched attacks into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions. A humanitarian source said rebels captured Erebti, an Afar town near the Tigray border, after heavy artillery fire and were advancing toward Afdeera, about 100 kilometres east.

The source estimated that at least 150,000 people had been displaced in Afar, while stressing that precise figures were not possible. The renewed fighting has raised concerns about a return to the 2020-2022 civil war between the TPLF and the federal government, in which an estimated 600,000 people died.

Tigrai TV, an outlet seen as a key broadcaster for rebel authorities in Mekelle, was struck by a drone on Sunday, France 24 reported. A station journalist said staff fled after hearing an explosion. Photos showed damage to the building, and another journalist said the outlet, which has around 400 employees, was off air. No immediate casualty reports were available.

Phone and internet disruptions in Tigray have limited reporting since Friday. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres was particularly troubled by reports of drone use and harm to civilians, his spokesman said. The 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement brought an uneasy calm, but was never fully implemented, leaving around one million people unable to return home.