Fighting breaks out in western Tigray as Ethiopia and TPLF trade blame

Clashes near Sheraro mark one of the most serious threats yet to the fragile 2022 Pretoria peace deal.Published On 1 Aug 20261 Aug 2026Fighting has broken out in western Tigray, in one of the most serious breaches yet of the three-year-old peace deal between Ethiopia’s federal government and fighters in the northern region.Tigray’s regional government said in a statement from Mekelle, the Tigrayan capital, that federal forces opened the assault at dawn on Saturday, advancing from the direction of Sheraro, near the Sudanese border.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US government mislabels countries on map of Africa at global conferencelist 2 of 3Who is driving diplomacy in the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea, and why?list 3 of 3Why is Uganda experiencing a food crisis?end of listAbraham Belay, a government minister who led Tigray’s transitional government during the war, confirmed the clashes but accused Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) chairman Debretsion Gebremichael’s forces of starting them.“Enough war! Let us resolve our differences through dialogue,” he said in a post on Facebook.The fighting follows months of deteriorating relations between Addis Ababa and th...