Hundreds flee Tigray into Sudan after border clashes

Hundreds of civilians and wounded fighters have fled from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region into neighboring Sudan following intense clashes between the Ethiopian federal army and Tigrayan forces over the weekend, raising fears of a return to full-scale civil war. The fighting, which involved heavy artillery and drones, erupted in the strategically sensitive border area of Shererina in western Tigray early on Saturday, August 1, and continued into Sunday before subsiding.

The violence marks one of the most serious confrontations since a peace deal brokered by the African Union ended a brutal two-year civil war in November 2022. That conflict, primarily between the federal government and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), resulted in an estimated 600,000 deaths. The recent clashes represent a significant breach of the fragile truce, which has not been fully implemented.

Both sides have traded blame for initiating the hostilities. The TPLF-led regional administration accused the federal government of launching a large-scale infantry offensive, calling it an act of "open war" that violates the peace agreement and aims to subjugate Tigray. Federal Minister Abraham Belay,...