The Regional Government of Tigray of Ethiopia appeals to obtain help after the combatants take over the key cities

Addis Abeba, Ethiopia – The interim government of the Ethiopia Tigray region appealed to the Federal Government of Ethiopia from intervening after a faction of the Tigray people liberation front seized the control of two main cities, leaving several people injured and increasing the fear of a return to the civil war.

On Tuesday, the TPLF faction seized the Adigrato, the second largest city in Tigray, and appointed a new administrator, expelling the head of the Loyal Office to the interim government. On Wednesday night, he took control of Adi-Gudem, a city near the regional capital, Mekele. Several people in Adi-Gude were injured when the forces tried to occupy a government building.

The TPLF fought against a brutal two -year war against the federal forces that ended in November 2022 with the signing of a peace agreement and the formation of an interim government led by TPLF. It is believed that hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the fight that began in November 2020, with millions displaced and many stayed close to the famine in the second most populated country in Africa.

However, since the war ended, the TPLF has gone up. In October, its leader, Gremichael deck, expelled the chief of the interim government, Gethaww Reda, of the party along with four members of his cabinet.

In retaliation, Reda, who was the main negotiator of the Peace Agreement, temporarily suspended four superior military commanders that he believed were aligned with the Gebremichael faction.

“The region can be on the edge of another crisis,” said a statement on Wednesday of the Tigray Communication Affairs Office, which is part of the interim government.

Reda has described the recent actions of the TPF as a “potential coup attempt.”

In a televised interview, he emphasized the need of the international community, one of the key guarantors of the Praetorian Peace Agreement, to closely monitor the growing situation in the region devastated by war.

“The parties in the Pretoria agreement should really take into account the deteriorated situation in Tigray and the ramifications of great scope of the unraveling of the Pretoria agreements,” he said.

The Vice President of TPLF, Amanuel Assefa, told Associated Press that the current crises have nothing to do with the Pretoria agreement, but are largely related to the police.

“The TPLF and Tigray forces are the legitimate owners of the Pretoria agreement. Therefore, there is no reason to participate in any action that violates that, ”he said.