The armed conflict in Ethiopia between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) has recently escalated. Tensions began to rise after the Tigray region rejected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s decision to postpone the parliamentary elections because of the coronavirus pandemic and decided unilaterally to hold its own polls in September. On Nov. 5, Ahmed declared a wide-scale war on the TPLF, after the latter attacked a federal military base in Tigray.

The TPLF had dominated the ruling coalition in Ethiopia before Ahmed seized power in 2018, but it has refused to join Ahmed’s administration, accusing it of targeting and marginalizing its leaders.

The TPLF, which includes around a quarter of a million armed fighters, was also involved in a war with Eritrea over disputed border territory between 1998 and 2000, which ended with Ethiopia and Eritrea signing a peace agreement.

The recent fighting in Ethiopia coincides with the stalled negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which came to a halt on Oct. 22 upon Sudan’s request.