Ethiopia’s federal government will run Tigray through an interim administration for the next six months, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced on Friday. His office said the caretaker team would work to create the political stability needed for free and transparent elections in the northern region, which has been outside Addis Ababa’s control for years and did not take part in the June federal elections.
The decision comes after several weeks of fighting. In September the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, allied with other armed groups, launched an offensive aimed at bringing down Abiy’s government. The rebels made early gains in the neighbouring Afar region but were later pushed back and lost Tigray’s main cities. Their fighters surrendered in Mekelle at the start of October.
Federal forces and an allied militia entered Adwa on October 11, a day after TPLF fighters withdrew from the town, which sits about 40 kilometres from the Eritrean border. No fighting was reported. Ethiopian Airlines resumed flights to Mekelle around the same time. Adwa carries strong symbolic weight in Ethiopia, where the 1896 victory over the Italian army is still celebrated every year.
The new administration will answer directly to the federal government and follow its instructions. The East African newspaper described the move as a retreat from the commitments made in Pretoria in November 2022, when the agreement that ended the previous two-year war was signed. Abiy said in a statement posted on X that the people of Tigray needed to break with repeated conflict in order to gain lasting peace, self-rule and development. He added that the interim officials would rebuild damaged infrastructure and help displaced families go home.
That will not be easy. The previous war left hundreds of thousands facing famine, and the UN refugee agency counted around 750,000 people still displaced in Tigray in February. The region is also dealing with drought linked to El Niño.
Getachew Reda, a former Tigray leader who now advises the prime minister, returned to Mekelle this month alongside intelligence chief Redwan Hussein. Speaking to supporters at the airport, he promised change that people would actually see.
Eritrea remains the main concern. Addis Ababa has accused Asmara, as well as Sudan and Egypt, of backing the rebel alliance. Eritrea fought on the federal side during the 2020 to 2022 war, but it cut diplomatic ties with Ethiopia over these accusations. According to Al Jazeera, Eritrean troops who had crossed into Tigray pulled back after heavy Ethiopian drone strikes. UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all parties to stop fighting and talk, and the United States has urged both countries to ease tensions.
Abiy now has six months to show that federal rule can bring calm to Tigray and deliver an election that Tigrayans will accept, while keeping the dispute with Eritrea from turning into open war.