Renewed clashes between Ethiopian government troops and Tigrayan forces in western Tigray have shattered two years of fragile peace, forcing flight suspensions and raising fears that the conflict that killed thousands could reignite.
Fighting broke out in recent days near Tsemlet, a contested area claimed by forces from the neighboring Amhara region, according to security and diplomatic sources who described the situation as "deteriorating." The violence has already disrupted air travel to the region, cutting off a critical lifeline for a population still recovering from years of war.
"It feels like the lives of our young people are coming to an end here," wrote one young Tigrayan on social media, expressing the despair gripping the region. "I'm deeply heartbroken that people are dying for nothing."
The clashes threaten the November 2022 peace agreement that ended a brutal two-year war which began in 2020 and killed thousands while displacing millions across Ethiopia's northern region. That conflict left Tigray devastated, with up to 80 percent of the population still requiring emergency humanitarian support.
The timing could not be worse. Tigray remains impoverished and fragile following years of conflict, and recent cuts to international aid have placed additional strain on an already crumbling public health system. When former U.S. President Donald Trump took office one year ago, he slashed USAID funding globally. Ethiopia, formerly the largest sub-Saharan recipient of such aid, experienced critical funding gaps that reduced medical care, water, and sanitation services.
Dr. Mesfin Teklu, a Doctors Without Borders official working in the region, told Al Jazeera that donor funding cuts have placed "additional strain on an already fragile public health system, with vulnerable populations experiencing reduced access to essential services."
While the U.S. announced resumption of some support months after suspending Tigray aid, many residents report little has reached the region. Now, with fighting resuming, young Tigrayans face a cruel choice: flee to the capital Addis Ababa if they can afford it, or remain and risk being drawn into renewed conflict.
"The only 'benefit' of war is that poor mothers cry over their children, while the children of the wealthy leave safely as we watch them go," the young Tigrayan wrote. "I truly feel sorry for those of you who, like me, are poor."
The renewed violence raises urgent questions about the durability of peace agreements negotiated without addressing underlying territorial disputes and power-sharing arrangements. Tigray, Amhara, and the federal government have yet to resolve competing claims over contested areas like Tsemlet, where the current fighting erupted.
As transportation links are severed and humanitarian access threatened once again, the young voices from Tigray offer a stark reminder of who pays the price when peace collapses: not the negotiators in conference rooms, but the students, farmers, and families still trying to rebuild from the last war.
54 countries, 2,000 languages, 1.4 billion people. Ethiopia is one nation within that vast continent, and Tigray is one region within that nation. But the pattern is familiar across Africa: when international attention fades and aid dries up, fragile peace agreements collapse, and it is always the poorest who suffer most.
