On Nov 4, 2020, an all-out civil war started in the Tigray region, one of the nine federal states of Ethiopia. What began as a political and constitutional crisis in Ethiopian politics has unfortunately escalated into a full-fledged international war between the Tigrayan forces, and military forces from, at least, four countries . Tigray has been attacked by allied forces of Ethiopian federal government national defense forces (violating Ethiopian constitution), Eritrean defense forces (against Ethiopia’s sovereignty) , Amhara national regional state forces and militia (violating Ethiopian constitution), Somalia defense forces (against Ethiopia’s sovereignty), and United Arab Emirates war drones from the Assab military base in Eritrea (against Ethiopia’s sovereignty).
The Ethiopian government tries to sell this senseless war as a response to an unwarranted attack on the Northern command of the Ethiopian Defense Force by the forces loyal to the Tigray government. This seems to be accepted as general truth in the international arena. However, to completely understand who started the war, it is worth looking at the very critical developments since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. Read more: Who Started the War on Tigray? (PDF)