The Tigray War began in November 2020 with fighting between the Ethiopian federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front, the political party that had governed Ethiopia's Tigray region for decades. The conflict grew out of a deepening dispute between the federal government and the TPLF over the Tigray region's autonomy within Ethiopia's system of ethnic-based federalism. The TPLF had been the dominant party in the political coalition that ruled Ethiopia for nearly three decades before Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power in 2018. That transition from decades of TPLF-led governance to a new federal administration intensified tensions between the central authorities and the party's leadership in the Tigray region, eventually erupting into open conflict.
The war involved military forces from multiple sides. On one side were the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), armed forces from Eritrea, and regional troops from the Amhara region of Ethiopia. Opposing them were Tigrayan forces organized under the Tigray Defense Forces. The involvement of Eritrean forces and the Amhara regional military expanded the scope of the conflict well beyond a regional political dispute. Rather than remaining confined to engagements between military forces, the conflict extended deeply into civilian areas and communities, bringing violence and suffering to populations across the affected regions.
The war produced a severe and widespread humanitarian crisis across the region. Northern Ethiopia experienced a documented famine that displaced more than two million people from their homes and communities. The human toll extended far beyond direct combat deaths. Researchers documented significant numbers of indirect deaths caused by the conflict's disruption of essential systems and services. Multiple parties to the conflict faced allegations of committing atrocities and war crimes, leading to international investigations seeking to document events and assess responsibility for violations.
Researchers' estimates of the total death toll — combining direct combat deaths, indirect deaths from conflict-related causes, and deaths from famine — range from roughly 300,000 to 600,000 people. These figures represent estimates rather than precise counts, a reflection of the difficulty of gathering complete mortality data in active conflict zones marked by displacement, damaged infrastructure, and disrupted record-keeping. Even as estimates, these numbers place the Tigray War among the deadliest conflicts of the 21st century, underscoring both the military intensity of the fighting and the broader humanitarian emergency that accompanied it.
The war ended on November 2, 2022, when the Ethiopian federal government and the TPLF signed the Pretoria Agreement following African Union-mediated peace negotiations. The agreement established a permanent cessation of hostilities between the parties. The signing marked the formal conclusion of nearly two years of armed conflict. However, the humanitarian work of addressing the needs of affected populations and rebuilding communities in the region would extend far beyond the end of the fighting itself.
