Army Chief of Staff Field Marshal Berhanu Jula said the military was responding to what he described as provocations from the Tigray front with “wisdom and restraint,” Al Jazeera reported.
Berhanu also accused neighboring Eritrea of funding and supporting armed groups in an effort to weaken Ethiopia. He described the recently formed “Semedo” alliance as part of a broader pattern of hostile alliances that, he said, could not challenge the Ethiopian government without external backing.
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Eritrea has denied the accusations. The country has expressed concern that landlocked Ethiopia could seek military action to gain access to the Red Sea.
The latest fighting has spread beyond Tigray into the neighboring Afar and Amhara regions after seven armed groups announced the formation of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Alliance for Survival, which has pledged to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
In Afar, fighting has been reported around Abala, where federal forces have sought to prevent armed groups from taking control.
The Ethiopian army also said Thursday that it had killed 272 Tigrayan fighters and wounded 260 others during a counteroffensive in North Wollo, an area of Amhara bordering Tigray. The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has disputed the government’s account.
The TPLF’s Tigray Army accused the federal government of launching a “full-scale offensive” involving infantry, mechanized forces and drones. TPLF central committee member Abdisalam Balema described the situation as a “full war” in comments to Al Jazeera.
Fighting has also continued around Sama, Soqota and Raya Alamata, with government forces reportedly advancing toward the town of Alamata.
Despite the escalation, Ethiopia’s military command said it favored “strategic calm” over a large-scale confrontation, arguing that the Tigray front was losing popular support and that its leadership was divided.
Internet access was reportedly disrupted across northern Ethiopia on Friday, a day after the UN expressed concern over reports that drones were being used against civilians in the region.
The renewed fighting has placed the 2022 Pretoria Agreement under severe strain. The accord ended the two-year Tigray war but left several political, territorial and security disputes unresolved.
The latest escalation has raised concerns that renewed fighting could expand beyond Tigray and involve armed groups from other parts of Ethiopia, potentially widening the conflict across the region.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Ethiopia’s president sought to portray the country as a contributor to regional stability while accusing unnamed external actors of interfering in its affairs. He also highlighted Ethiopia’s role in supporting peace efforts in neighboring Sudan.
Alemayehu Weldemariam, a law professor at Indiana University, told Al Jazeera that the federal government bears much of the responsibility for the deterioration of the Pretoria Agreement, pointing to restrictions on fuel, services and cash in Tigray and the failure to establish the interim administration envisaged under the agreement.
