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Mekelle, Tigray — Tensions in northern Ethiopia have boiled over into direct conflict once again, severely undermining the 2022 Pretoria Peace Agreement. Today, August 20, 2026, Mekelle was rocked by dual drone strikes, capping off months of mounting political friction and internal power struggles between the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian federal government.
The Latest Strikes in Mekelle
Two separate drone strikes targeted the Tigrayan capital today. The first strike hit the Hawelti Sub-City (Momona Kebele) near St. Mary Church. According to the emergency department at Ayder Specialized Hospital, the strike on this residential area resulted in at least 13 casualties, including women and children. A second strike was reported shortly after in the Kuha area, though no immediate casualties were recorded there.
These attacks follow a similar drone strike just two days prior, on Tuesday, August 18, which left at least one person dead. The Tigray Bureau of Communication Affairs has squarely blamed the federal government for the bombings, though Addis Ababa has not yet issued a formal response.
The Unraveling of the Pretoria Agreement
The return of aerial bombardments and armed skirmishes marks a catastrophic fracture in the November 2022 Pretoria Agreement, which formally ended a brutal two-year civil war.The peace deal had established an Interim Regional Administration (IRA) to govern Tigray, but the framework has been buckling under structural and political pressure throughout 2026:
- Renewed Clashes:On August 1, 2026, serious ground clashes erupted between Ethiopian federal forces and the TPLF near the Sudanese border.Tigrayan officials accused federal forces of initiating the offensive, while federal ministers accused the TPLF of catalyzing the violence.
- Electoral Exclusion:The peace process was severely strained when the national electoral board cancelled the TPLF’s political registration.This decision effectively barred the region’s dominant political entity from participating in the June 2026 national elections, echoing the exact electoral disputes that triggered the original war in 2020.
Internal TPLF Rift and the Struggle for Control
The collapse of relations with Addis Ababa has been compounded—and partially driven by—a severe internal power struggle within the TPLF. The rift divided the party between a federally cooperative camp led by former IRA President Getachew Reda, and TPLF hardliners loyal to Chairman Debretsion Gebremichael.
This internal division culminated in a series of unilateral political maneuvers that directly challenged the post-war order:
- Rejection of the Interim Mandate: In April 2026, the TPLF’s Central Committee officially rejected the federal government’s extension of the Tigray Interim Administration’s mandate. Getachew Reda condemned the TPLF’s move as a “deeply alarming” repudiation of the fragile Pretoria Agreement.
- Reinstating the Pre-War Government:In May 2026, the TPLF took the ultimate step of reinstating its pre-war regional council and independently electing Debretsion Gebremichael as president of Tigray.
For the federal government, this unilateral move bypassed constitutional mechanisms and represented a complete rejection of the federally recognized Interim Administration. With the political arrangement shattered and hardliners consolidating control in Mekelle, both sides have mobilized, drawing the region back into a perilous cycle of violence.
Would you like more details on the recent ground clashes along the border, or a deeper breakdown of the TPLF’s internal divisions?
