Prime Minister Abiy Says Ethiopia Does Not Want War

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has said his government seeks dialogue rather than renewed war with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), even as troop deployments around the northern region intensify concerns of a return to large-scale conflict.

The comments come amid reports that both federal forces and Tigrayan troops have deployed large numbers of personnel along the region’s borders. The buildup follows several months of renewed clashes that have strained the fragile ceasefire that ended Ethiopia’s devastating 2020-2022 war in Tigray.

In remarks broadcast late Thursday by the Ethiopian state news agency, Abiy said his government remains committed to negotiations rather than armed confrontation.

On our part, we believe problems should be resolved only through dialogue. We don’t want war.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali

The prime minister delivered part of his message in Tigrinya, the language widely spoken in Tigray, an unusual step interpreted as a direct appeal to the region’s population and leadership.

Despite this conciliatory tone, tensions remain high. Large numbers of Ethiopian federal troops have been stationed near the Tigray border for several weeks, while Tigrayan forces have also mobilized units in response.

The deployment follows two recent rounds of clashes, first in November and again in January, signaling a deterioration of the ceasefire environment that had largely held since 2022.

Tigrayan leaders have accused Addis Ababa of preparing for renewed conflict. In an interview with Agence France-Presse on Wednesday, Amanuel Assefa, the TPLF’s second-in-command, said “the federal government is preparing itself to wage a war against Tigray.”

The TPLF had dominated Ethiopian politics for approximately 30 years before Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. After the political shift, the party was marginalized and eventually banned by federal authorities.

The war that followed between federal forces and Tigrayan fighters lasted two years, from 2020 to 2022, and resulted in one of the deadliest conflicts in recent African history. The African Union estimates that at least 600,000 people were killed during the fighting.

Relations with neighboring Eritrea have also become a factor in the escalating tensions. Eritrean forces fought alongside Ethiopian federal troops during the Tigray war. However, relations between Addis Ababa and Asmara have since grown fragile. Ethiopian authorities have accused the TPLF of strengthening ties with Eritrea, an allegation the group denies.

Eritrea, for its part, has accused landlocked Ethiopia of seeking access to the Red Sea port of Assab, a strategic facility located on Eritrea’s coast.

In the interview, Abiy warned that Eritrea could attempt to destabilize Ethiopia. “We will not give it a chance to hurt our people once again. If it tries, I believe it will be its last attempt,” he said.

The tensions unfold against a historical backdrop of conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. The two countries fought a brutal border war from May 1998 to June 2000, primarily over disputed frontier towns.

The conflict left tens of thousands dead and entrenched a long period of hostility between the neighboring states.

Today, Ethiopia is home to roughly 130 million people, making it one of Africa’s largest countries. The stability of its northern regions remains central to security dynamics across the Horn of Africa, where conflicts in neighboring states and unresolved border disputes continue to shape regional geopolitics.