Theme: Ethiopia

Ethiopia expelled six staff members of Sudan's consulate in Assosa, a western city near the Sudanese border, and ordered the mission closed, according to officials from both countries. Sudan's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that drones used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) against the country's electricity infrastructure were supplied by the United Arab Emirates and launched from Ethiopia, and that it had filed formal complaints against Addis Ababa at the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of backing the RSF, while Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of supporting rebels in Tigray; Ethiopia denies backing the RSF and Sudan denies backing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Amjad Farid, political and foreign affairs adviser to Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council, said the government remains committed to its right to defend its territory but is making every possible effort to avoid an open war with Ethiopia. Ethiopia withdrew three diplomats from its consulate in the eastern Sudanese city of El Gedaref, and reports suggested Sudanese authorities ordered the Ethiopian diplomats there to leave in retaliation; neither foreign ministry issued an official statement on the mutual expulsions, according to the Sudan Tribune. Sudan's civil war, which began in April 2023, has displaced more than 14 million people, according to UN figures, in a Reuters text republished by the Straits Times.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), thousands of people are displaced in the city of Debre Berhan, in the Amhara region, and in Shire, in northwestern Tigray. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said families who had recently returned to the district of Diabo, in northwestern Tigray, were forced to flee again because of renewed military activities. OCHA and humanitarian partners are preparing to scale up assistance, but insecurity is restricting movement along the roads connecting Gonder with Debark and Metema, in Amhara. Fighting in the country's north, in Tigray, Amhara and Afar, resumed in late September, nearly four years after the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement ended the two-year war between federal forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported civilian deaths, including children and a newborn, in attacks in northern Ethiopia and said the region's health system is approaching collapse.

Ethiopia has ordered six Sudanese diplomatic staff members to leave the country within 48 hours, according to a senior Ethiopian official cited by Reuters, in a text republished by Addis Standard. The six were ordered to leave Sudan’s consulate in Assosa, the administrative center of the Benishangul-Gumuz region. The decision comes days after Sudan’s army-aligned government lodged complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of allowing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to use Ethiopian territory to launch drone attacks. Addis Ababa accuses Khartoum of backing Tigrayan rebels, and both sides deny the allegations against them. On October 1, Ethiopia had already closed its embassy in Asmara and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata, ordering them to leave within 48 hours.

Former US contractor Abraham Teklu Lemma admitted sharing dozens of classified documents and photographs with Ethiopian officials over more than two years, according to the US Department of Justice. He worked as a contractor at the State Department, the Justice Department and the National Reconnaissance Office, the agency responsible for US intelligence satellites. The material included satellite imagery and details of military activities, passed on through encrypted messages, and the FBI said Ethiopian officials used the intelligence in military operations. In one message to an Ethiopian official in December 2021, Lemma wrote that “we have to finish these people once and for all,” because otherwise there would never be peace in Ethiopia, and later that day he urged the official to send drones. He pleaded guilty to conspiring to transmit national defense information to a foreign government, faces sentencing on April 14, 2027, and could get up to 22 years in prison.

Ethiopia’s Media Authority announced on November 2 the indefinite suspension of the print and online licenses of the Reporter, the country’s last privately owned Amharic newspaper, accusing it of violating media laws and ethics and publishing content against the national interest; in October, undercover police detained journalists Samuel Getachew and Amanuel Gebremedhin, jailed for eight days, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a text republished by AllAfrica.

Kenyan authorities, together with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Kenyan Red Cross, began around October 31 registering at the Harhosa and OMC shelters in Marsabit County the Ethiopians fleeing the clashes in Moyale, a border town jointly administered by the Oromia and Somali regions, with more than 50,000 crossings since late October, according to Kenyan media, and agencies appealed for about $8.9 million for three months of response, in an Addis Standard text republished by AllAfrica.

Egypt and Sudan reaffirmed in a joint statement on November 2, after the third round of their “2+2” consultation mechanism bringing foreign and irrigation ministers together in Cairo, that Ethiopia’s operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) without a binding agreement threatens downstream water security, according to Egyptian local media. The 1959 agreement invoked by the two countries allocated 55.5 billion cubic meters a year to Egypt and 18.5 billion to Sudan, while making no provision for Ethiopia, which was not a party to the treaty. The dam, built through domestic financing, has an installed generation capacity of approximately 5,150 megawatts and a reservoir capacity of about 74 billion cubic meters, making it Africa’s largest hydroelectric project.

Sudan’s army said on Tuesday that its air defenses shot down a “hostile” drone that crossed the border from Ethiopia and was intercepted over Blue Nile State, without identifying the operator, the origin, the target or the circumstances of the interception, amid border tensions, with the army repeatedly accusing external actors of backing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) says that 500 soldiers were killed and 800 wounded in clashes with the Ethiopian federal government's army and allied forces in the country's northern Tigray region. The figures were reported by the TPLF-affiliated Dimtsi Weyane television station, could not be independently verified, and the Ethiopian government has not commented on the claims.

Sudan has lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with the United Nations (UN) Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council after a series of deadly drone attacks this year, according to Al Jazeera.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed put cabinet ministers and other senior government officials through military training at the Hurso center, saying armed forces discipline can help build stronger leaders, the BBC reported. Those taking part include the speaker of the House of Federation, Muferiat Kamil, the finance minister, Fitsum Assefa, and the health minister, Mekdes Daba. The training comes as Ethiopia faces multiple security challenges, including continued fighting in parts of the northern Tigray region, conflict in Amhara and insecurity in Oromia.

At least 14 people, including children, were killed in several drone strikes on Thursday (October 29) on a camp for displaced people in Ethiopia's Amhara region, three witnesses told AFP in a report published by The Hindu. Local media and conflict monitors reported at least 16 civilians killed and 22 injured in Thursday's strike on a camp for people displaced by conflict in Ethiopia's northern Amhara region. The camp houses more than 1,800 internally displaced people, many of whom fled violence in the Oromia region, including the Wollega area, according to Anadolu.

Up to an estimated 50,000 people crossed into Kenya, according to local authorities cited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), following clashes between the armies of southern Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromia regions; UNHCR deployed an emergency team to Moyale.

Sudan accused Ethiopia of providing platforms on its territory for launching drones that recently targeted the country on Wednesday and warned of risks to regional security and stability, according to the Chinese agency Xinhua. Sudanese Foreign Minister Khalid said Sudan reserved the right to defend its security by all legitimate means. Over the past three days, drones the agency links to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have targeted electricity stations in multiple Sudanese states.

Ethiopia received 12 Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, as fighting intensified in the northern Tigray region neighboring Eritrea, according to the BBC, and will acquire four S-400 air defense batteries, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has announced, according to Al Jazeera.

Vladimir Putin is expected to hold more than 20 bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit, attended by representatives from 48 African countries, according to Sputnik. Putin said Russia-Ethiopia trade topped $1.3 billion in January-September, more than double the whole of 2025.

Fighting in southern Ethiopia has pushed some 50,000 people across the border into Kenya since clashes erupted last week, the United Nations said, citing local authorities. Fatima Mohammed-Cole, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative for Kenya, said up to 50,000 people have crossed into Kenya, according to local authorities. The clashes pit the armies of the Somali and Oromia regions against each other.

Approximately 36,000 people crossed from Ethiopia into Kenya fleeing conflict in and around Moyale, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Kenya, with food, clean water, shelter, sanitation and healthcare as the most urgent needs. Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights reports about 40,000 refugees in Moyale, with more than 15,000 in eight temporary shelters.

At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in separate attacks on October 20 and 24 in Ethiopia’s Oromia region — 14 people on the 20th in Gora Silingo, in Merti, and another 46 on the 24th in Tereta, Chole and Birbo, in Shirka — according to Ethiopian Orthodox Church officials. The attacks were blamed by a local official on a newly formed rebel coalition, the Alliance for Survival, which includes the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), which has not commented but has denied previous attacks against civilians, according to the BBC.

Residents and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) conflict monitor told AFP that at least 43 people were killed and 18 wounded when an unidentified armed group attacked villages in the Shirka district of Oromia, around 270 kilometres south of Addis Ababa, in a text republished by Punch. The attack on Orthodox Christian churches and homes in Ethiopia’s central state of Oromia happened on Saturday and killed more than 40 people, residents and the ACLED conflict monitor told AFP, in a text republished by CP24.

More than 14,000 Ethiopians have fled deadly fighting in southern Ethiopia into neighbouring Kenya, humanitarian officials said, amid fears that clashes between rival communities have killed more than a dozen people, according to TRT World. The Kenya Red Cross said more than 10,900 displaced people were being accommodated at six temporary camps in the border town of Moyale, while another 4,000 were staying with relatives and host families.

Drone strikes killed at least six schoolchildren and wounded more than 20 at a primary school in Ethiopia, according to preliminary reports. The strike hit Sana Elementary School in Dera Woreda, in South Gondar Zone of Amhara, on Tuesday, October 20, between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m., according to Addis Standard, in a text republished by AllAfrica. In a separate strike in Finaruo village, Saharti Samre Woreda, in Tigray's Southeastern Zone, four people were killed and six wounded as they loaded livestock onto a truck, local residents said. Addis Standard said it could not independently establish the circumstances of either strike or obtain a response from the Ethiopian military.

The director-general of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Jean Kaseya, called on Nigeria’s first confirmed Ebola patient to disclose her complete travel history and possible contacts during a recent visit to Uganda, to help health authorities establish how she contracted the virus. According to Kaseya, the patient was born in Uganda and lives in Abuja, and was in her home country when her husband, a diplomat, travelled to join her. In an interview with the BBC, he said her first symptoms appeared on October 6, when she sought a private hospital believing she had malaria, and that she was admitted on October 11. Nigeria’s health minister, Muhammad Pate, confirmed that the 42-year-old woman spent two and a half weeks in Kampala before returning to Abuja through Ethiopia, with a two-hour stopover in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia has installed a new administration in conflict-hit Tigray after federal forces pushed back Tigrayan fighters, but tensions with Eritrea continue to raise fears of a wider regional war, according to DW.

A peace deal signed in November 2022 ended two years of brutal fighting in the Ethiopian state of Tigray, but disputes over political power, territory and the disarmament of armed groups remain unresolved, according to The Hindu. With Addis Ababa and Asmara now on opposing sides again, conflicts raging elsewhere in the region and tensions high across the Red Sea, there are fears of broader contagion, according to Reuters.

Ethiopia’s federal government has established a six-month caretaker administration for the Tigray region, tasked with restoring security, rebuilding damaged infrastructure and organizing elections, according to AllAfrica. The government said repeated efforts to resolve the conflict in Tigray under the Pretoria peace agreement have failed, blaming the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) for obstructing implementation.

Ethiopia accused Eritrea of an “all-out invasion” of its northern Tigray region and warned it will defend itself, according to the BBC. In a letter to the UN Security Council, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos called the troop entry a “blatant act of aggression” and said Eritrean forces had advanced up to 60km into Tigray; Eritrea responded that it faces an “unprovoked war of aggression” from its neighbour. For The New York Times, the two countries, once allies, are edging toward war.

Ethiopia accused neighbouring Eritrea of an “all-out invasion” of Tigray and warned that it will defend itself, according to a letter to the Security Council cited by UN News. Eritrea rejected the claim, with its information minister saying the country faces an “unprovoked war of aggression”. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he is deeply worried by reports that Eritrean forces are present in northern Ethiopia.

The UN secretary-general urged an immediate halt to the hostilities in Tigray, Afar and Amhara and a return to dialogue under the Pretoria Agreement framework, in a statement issued on Friday night in New York by his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, according to UN News. Also according to UN News, media reports say Ethiopia accused neighbouring Eritrea of an all-out invasion of Tigray and warned that it will defend itself.

Drones attributed to Ethiopian government forces struck Eritrean troops, vehicles and ammunition near the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat between Wednesday night and Thursday morning, according to The Media Line, in a text published by the Jerusalem Post. In an October 8 letter to the United Nations (UN) Security Council, Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos accused Eritrea of invading Ethiopian territory and demanded that its troops withdraw. Eritrea on Saturday asked the council to condemn Ethiopia’s “declaration of war”, warning it could destabilise the region, according to AFP, in a text published by LBC.

A foreign security source estimated that 5,000 to 8,000 Eritrean soldiers are present in Tigray, according to AFP, cited by DW, which says various sources have confirmed the presence of Eritrean armed forces in Ethiopia. Ethiopia wrote to the UN Security Council calling for the immediate withdrawal of Eritrean troops from its territory, saying it had no option but to defend itself, according to Reuters, cited by DW.

Ethiopia and Eritrea each accused the other of starting a war of aggression on Friday, as an internal Ethiopian conflict threatened to escalate into a regional war, according to France 24, in a text with AFP. A foreign security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP they estimated 5,000 to 8,000 Eritrean soldiers were present in Tigray. Witnesses told AFP that the rebels had lost two other cities in the region, Shire and Adigrat.

Ethiopia told the UN Security Council that Eritrean forces, including mechanized units, advanced up to 37 miles (about 60 kilometres) into its northern territory, according to Africa Today News New York. The letter says the presence of the troops engages Ethiopia's inherent right to self-defense, and it describes the incursion as an “all-out invasion”. Residents of Adigrat told the BBC that Eritrean soldiers had crossed into northern Ethiopia heading towards an area of clashes in Tigray.

Ethiopian drones struck units of the Eritrean Army in the city of Adigrat, in Tigray, in the early hours of October 8, according to the Russian agency TASS. A local resident said several Eritrean military trucks were destroyed.

Ethiopian federal forces entered Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, after rebels withdrew from the city, in fighting that effectively ended the 2022 Pretoria ceasefire, with reports of Eritrean troops in northern Tigray, after Ethiopia closed its embassy in Eritrea and expelled diplomats on October 1, accusing Asmara of hostile acts and involvement in the fighting, according to Al Jazeera.

Eritrean troops have entered Ethiopia, raising fears of a direct confrontation with Addis Ababa, according to Le Monde. In recent days, the troops have deployed around a town in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, a local official and residents said, after two weeks of internal conflict threatening a wider regional war, according to AFP, in a report published by Modern Ghana.

Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia issued a joint declaration after meeting in Egypt's New Alamein, affirming “the principle of freedom of navigation” and saying that “the governance of the Red Sea is the exclusive responsibility of the littoral states”. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed renewed his call for access to the Red Sea, saying his landlocked country will work to secure an outlet to the sea.

Witnesses describe a broad campaign of forced recruitment in Tigray, targeting men and boys between the ages of 15 and 65 — according to The Guardian. Renewed conflict erupted on September 23 between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), breaking the November 2022 Pretoria agreement. Human Rights Watch says Tigray authorities have been abducting and unlawfully recruiting civilians, including children as young as 15, since at least April 2026.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed insisted that his landlocked country must have access to the Red Sea, despite a conflict in the north. In Parliament, he said that, based on the principle of give and take, Ethiopia will work diligently to ensure an outlet to the sea. Four of the five countries bordering the Red Sea — Egypt, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia — met on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.

Airstrikes and artillery fire hit the Tigray region, in northern Ethiopia, overnight into Monday, in clashes between the federal government and rebels, according to aid sources cited by Reuters, in a text republished by The Hindu. Airstrikes killed at least 17 people northwest of Mekelle, Tigray's capital taken by federal forces over the weekend, according to a bulletin circulated among humanitarian groups. On Monday morning, Ethiopian military and Tigrayan forces exchanged heavy artillery fire near the Tekeze River, close to the town of Mai Tsebri, according to the same bulletin.

Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia and Sudan called for political and peaceful solutions amid escalating conflicts across the region, according to Al Jazeera, in a joint declaration on Sunday following a meeting in New Alamein City in Egypt; the declaration also said control of the Red Sea should remain with the coastal states.

Ethiopian federal forces were in full control of Mekelle, the Tigray rebels' regional capital, according to a local journalist, on Sunday, as Ethiopia's regional rivals gathered in Egypt. The presidents of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea, all with difficult relations with Ethiopia, were set to meet in Alamein on Sunday to discuss the conflict, according to AFP. The People's Liberation Front of Tigray (TPLF) said it had temporarily moved out of Mekelle to operate from somewhere else, according to Al Jazeera.

Federal forces took control of Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, after leaders and troops of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) abandoned the city without a fight on Saturday, according to AFP, in a text published by The Hindu. The presidents of Egypt, Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea, all of whom have difficult relations with Ethiopia, were set to meet in the Egyptian city of Alamein on Sunday to discuss the conflict. Ethiopia has accused Eritrea of directly backing the Tigray rebels, with the added support of Sudan and Egypt, which all three countries deny.

Ethiopia’s government forces said they seized Mekelle from Tigray fighters after a week of intense battles. The federal army and pro-government fighters recaptured the main airport in the capital of the northern Tigray region, with the rebels seen leaving the city, according to unnamed sources. One source with knowledge of events in the city and a humanitarian source told Reuters that the Ethiopian National Defence Forces regained control of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle.

Explosions sounded this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, a city rarely under direct attack, according to The Washington Post. Clashes between government troops and rebel groups have killed scores of civilians in the north in recent days and are spilling south toward the pilgrimage site of Lalibela, according to The Washington Post.

Ethiopian federal forces and pro-government fighters recaptured the main airport in Mekelle, the capital of the northern Tigray region, with rebels seen leaving the city, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters and AFP in a text published by Al Jazeera. The airport is about 10 km from the centre of Mekelle and was one of three airfields seized by the rebels at the start of the fighting, on September 23. Al Jazeera notes that it could not independently confirm the reports, with media access heavily restricted in Ethiopia and significant communications blackouts.

Ethiopia’s army is advancing toward the Tigrayan capital as fighting intensifies, according to France24. The African Union urged all sides to show restraint amid the escalation. Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Vice President Amanuel Assefa said the situation is now one of “full-blown war”, according to AFP, as reported by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Fighting is intensifying across northern Ethiopia and has spread from Tigray into the neighbouring Amhara and Afar regions, according to Al Jazeera. Government-aligned forces say they captured the strategic town of Alamata, Tigray, on September 28, while Tigrayan forces have pushed into Afar, according to the same broadcaster. Seven armed and political groups announced on September 20 an alliance aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government and establishing an inclusive transitional government, also according to Al Jazeera.

Eritrea severed all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia in retaliation, saying it had no option but to reciprocate in kind. The move came after Ethiopia ordered the closure of its embassy in Eritrea and declared 10 Eritrean diplomats persona non grata. The break comes as renewed fighting in northern Ethiopia raises fears of a wider regional conflict, according to the BBC.

Ethiopia ordered the closure of its embassy in Eritrea and gave 10 Eritrean diplomats 48 hours to leave the country, according to ChimpReports. On Thursday, Eritrea said it was breaking diplomatic ties with Ethiopia, in response to the earlier expulsion of its diplomats from Addis Ababa, according to AFP, in a text published by Ahram Online. Eritrea's foreign ministry said it had no option but to reciprocate and sever all diplomatic ties: “Eritrea has no option but to reciprocate in kind and sever all diplomatic ties with Ethiopia with all the negative corollaries that this entails,” the ministry said in a statement on X.

Blasts were heard overnight in Addis Ababa, hours after the Ethiopian capital instituted a ban on drone-flying in the city and surrounding areas, three diplomatic sources told Reuters. A source linked to the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival told Al Jazeera the alliance had carried out several drone strikes in the capital, including some targeting the military’s headquarters. On the ground, government forces advanced from Amhara deep into Tigray, reaching within about 40 kilometres (25 miles) of Mekelle, according to Al Jazeera’s Muhammed Taha Tawakel, reporting from Afar on Wednesday.

Fighting between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and Ethiopia’s federal government, led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, resumed on Wednesday, raising fears of a return to the 2020-2022 civil war, in which an estimated 600,000 people died. Sudan’s military denied in a statement on Sunday the accusations by Ethiopia’s army commander that Sudan and Egypt back armed groups fighting Ethiopian troops in the north of the country, calling them “baseless”, according to Al Jazeera.

Ethiopia’s army chief accused Egypt and Sudan of supporting a new alliance of armed groups trying to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, according to Euronews. Marshal Birhanu Jula said that neither Eritrea nor the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) could achieve anything alone without external support, according to France 24. The accusation comes as fighting has resumed in northern Ethiopia, according to Euronews.

Ethiopia’s Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Berhanu Jula said the army was responding with “wisdom and restraint” to what he called provocations from the Tigray front, according to Al Jazeera. The fighting has spread from Tigray into neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions after seven armed groups announced an alliance committed to removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.

Fighting has erupted again in Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, between regional forces and the national army. Tigrayan forces seized control of the airports in Mekelle, Axum and Shire, according to the United Nations, in a Reuters report republished by CNBC Africa. The African Union (AU) called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a return to direct talks.

Telecom and internet networks stopped working in Tigray on Friday, 25 September 2026, amid the escalation of fighting in northern Ethiopia. Services run by state-owned Ethio Telecom were completely cut, the BBC reported, and internet monitor NetBlocks detected a disruption corresponding to reports of a telecoms blackout in the region, Al Jazeera reported.

Ethiopia’s army said it repelled attacks by Tigrayan forces and their allies in parts of the north of the country, its first military statement since fighting resumed on September 24, 2026, according to the BBC. On Wednesday, September 23, 2026, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which dominates the region, seized control of three airports from federal police, including the one in Mekelle, and Ethiopian Airlines cancelled flights to Tigray, the BBC reports. Residents of Mekelle said the city is calm but tense, with fighting outside the city limits and the risk of communications being cut and of cash shortages, according to the BBC.

Rebels in Ethiopia’s Tigray region seized local airports and launched attacks into the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions, saying they were once again in “full-blown war” with the federal government, RFI reports, citing AFP. Ethiopian forces battled overnight to repel an assault in the Afar region, while monitor NetBlocks recorded an internet disruption in the north of the country, consistent with a telecoms blackout in Tigray.

Young men in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region say they are leaving because they fear being forcibly recruited to fight as political and military tensions rise, according to Al Jazeera; Human Rights Watch reported in July 2026 that Tigrayan authorities and forces had forcibly recruited civilians, including children as young as 15, since at least April 2026; the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) disputes the allegations, saying young people are joining voluntarily, the outlet reports.