Insecurity in Ethiopia's Tigray region has escalated due to political tensions within the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), which has residents fearing renewed violence years after a devastating conflict. With soaring prices, locals have rushed to withdraw money to stock up on food and essentials. Gasoline costs have surged, highlighting public anxiety. Internal divisions within TPLF exacerbate instability, as rival factions confront each other. The past trauma from conflict looms large in residents' minds, fueling fears of a dangerous resurgence.
"There's great fear here in Tigray," Meresa Giday, a resident of the provincial capital, Mekele, told DW correspondent Million Haileselassie. People in Tigray are still deeply traumatized by the last war.
"After the recent developments, there is indeed great panic here. The political conflicts here are not helping us, they are putting us all at risk," said another resident, who wanted to remain anonymous.
Internal divisions are not new for the TPLF, a former Marxist-Leninist liberation movement that has evolved from a guerrilla movement into a political party over the course of nearly 50 years.
Observers say the radicalism with which two rival factions are currently confronting each other is a novel development. On one side is the TPLF party leadership led by Gebremichael Debretsion.
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