Ethiopia’s Civil War Is a Disaster That’s Only Getting Worse
The only way to avoid a humanitarian calamity is for the West to lean harder on Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Long confined to Tigray, the conflict in Ethiopia has recently spread to neighboring regions Afar and Amhara.
Photographer: Eduardo Soteras/AFP
As the world is transfixed by the tragedy playing out in Afghanistan, another humanitarian catastrophe is getting little scrutiny.
In Ethiopia, a conflict with roots in a dispute between the central government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and authorities of the northern Tigray region has spilled into neighboring provinces and metastasized into a full-blown civil war — one fueled as much by ethnic enmities as by political grievances. It’s time for the West to pay attention and get tougher on the government in Addis Ababa.