Tigray War Fast Facts

Here's a look at the armed conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, between Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's federal Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) and forces of the previously dominant political party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).

The Tigray conflict, which lasted from 2020 to 2022, has left thousands dead, more than two million displaced and has fueled a famine.

Tigray is one of 11 administrative regions in Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous country. Each region is mostly autonomous, with its own police force and militia. Regional governments are largely divided along entrenched ethnic lines. Long-standing tensions between regions have led to ethno-nationalist clashes there.

The TPLF, which ruled the country for more than three decades before Abiy came to power in 2018, has been designated a terrorist group by the current government.

After becoming prime minister, Abiy worked to dismantle the power of the TPLF. He announced the rearrangement of the ruling coalition that TPLF founded - the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Front (EPRDF), comprised of four parties - into a single, new Prosperity Party (PP), ostracizing the TPLF in the process.

Abiy won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for helping to end Ethiopia's 20-year war with neighboring Eritrea.

Eritrean forces have since joined in the military campaign in Tigray on the side of the Ethiopian government.