Description: Tigray’s interim government has asked the federal administration of Ethiopia for assistance in what was reported as escalating tensions on the border with Eritrea. Reports indicated that a splintered organization from the Tigray’s People Liberation Army (TPLA) has plotted to overthrow the Ethiopian government and attacked civilian targets after overtaking the northern town of Adigrat. Rising tensions come amid Ethiopia’s deployment of military troops on the Eritrean border in Feb over growing concerns of a military buildup by the TPLA. Former EU and US envoys to the region have confirmed the highly probable conflict escalation towards renewed war and possible risks of violating the Praetorian peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea signed in 2022 that normalized ties between the countries after almost a 20 – year war conflict.
Impact: Growing military tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea could contribute to the generally destabilized Horn of Africa and inflict further deepening of the security and humanitarian crisis in the region. Splinter organization from the TPLA aims to topple the relatively normalized relations between former adversaries Ethiopia and Eritrea in the sensitive Tigray region where a protracted civil war was doused with the Praetoria agreement in 2022. With Al – Shabab’s resurgence and rearmament in neighboring Somalia and constant presence of extremist terrorist organizations in the region such as the Islamic State (IS), the region faces considerable risks of armed conflicts between terrorist fractions and government forces. The global seizure of funding through the USAID program also contributed towards the growing crises on the African continent as multiple armed groups resurged in power grab conflicts.