Tigray rebel groups ‘forcibly recruiting boys as young as 15’ as fighting spreads

Violence has reignited in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region as a newly formed alliance of armed groups resumes hostilities with the federal government, raising fears of another humanitarian emergency. Witness accounts describe civilians attempting to flee while men and boys are being forcibly conscripted into the alliance’s ranks amid escalating clashes. The latest outbreak of fighting follows the collapse of a hard-won peace deal signed late last year, plunging the area back into instability. With reports of forced recruitment spreading, the situation threatens to deepen the region’s already dire humanitarian conditions.

Civilians try to flee as men and boys rounded up on streets by new alliance as Ethiopia conflict erupts againAs renewed fighting has threatened a fresh humanitarian crisis in the northern region of Ethiopia, reports are emerging that a new alliance of armed groups in Tigray has been forcibly recruiting men and boys to its ranks.Renewed conflict erupted on 23 September between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), which rules the region, shattering the fragile Pretoria peace agreement signed between the two sides in November 2022. Continue reading...