Tigray refugees flee to Sudan as border violence escalates

Hundreds of people, including wounded fighters, crossed from Ethiopia’s Tigray region into neighbouring Sudan after heavy fighting erupted over the weekend between Ethiopian Federal Forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), residents, local officials and rebel representatives said. 

The clashes, involving artillery and drone strikes near the border area of Shererina, marked the most significant military confrontation since the signing of a peace agreement in 2022 and renewed concerns that northern Ethiopia could slide back into a broader conflict.

The fighting began early on Saturday and continued through much of the weekend before easing by Sunday afternoon, according to TPLF officials. By around 5 p.m. local time (1400 GMT), the intensity of the clashes had diminished, although the situation remained tense along the frontier.

“There is a de-escalation,” a member of the TPLF said on Sunday, while cautioning that tensions remained high despite the reduction in hostilities.

The TPLF accused the Ethiopian National Defence Force of launching the offensive, alleging that federal troops had escalated military operations through what it described as a large-scale infantry assault supported by heavy weapons. The group said the latest attack represented a significant intensification of the conflict.

Ethiopian federal authorities had not immediately responded publicly to the allegations. Newsroom could not independently verify claims made by either side regarding how the fighting began.

For months, Ethiopian federal forces and Tigrayan fighters have maintained troop deployments along northern Tigray, with both camps repeatedly accusing one another of preparing for renewed hostilities.

Diplomatic observers and humanitarian organisations have warned that the military build-up has increased the risk of another armed confrontation despite the peace accord signed nearly three years ago. The latest violence has revived fears of a return to the devastating civil war that engulfed northern Ethiopia between 2020 and 2022.

The conflict, which involved Ethiopian government forces, the TPLF, allied regional militias and Eritrean troops, killed an estimated 600,000 people, according to the African Union, and displaced millions across the region.

On the Sudanese side of the border, residents reported hearing sustained artillery fire and explosions throughout the weekend. Aid workers said hundreds of civilians sought refuge after fleeing the violence, while several refugee settlements near the frontier were affected by nearby bombardments.

Reporting from Ad-Damazin, the capital of Sudan’s Blue Nile state, Al Jazeera correspondent Osama Sayed Ahmad said drone and artillery strikes triggered explosions close to major refugee camps sheltering displaced Ethiopians. The number of casualties was not immediately known.

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was closely monitoring developments and expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation along the Ethiopia-Sudan border, warning that renewed violence could further worsen an already fragile humanitarian crisis in the region.