United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned on Saturday that rising tensions in Ethiopia's Tigray region risk plunging the area back into conflict, urging all sides to exercise restraint and recommit to a fragile peace accord signed more than two years ago.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the UN Security Council, emphasizing the dire humanitarian situation in Haiti and the escalating crisis in Gaza, in New York, United States, August 28, 2025. (Photo: CFP)
Guterres' deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement that Guterres was closely tracking reports of renewed clashes and a worsening security environment in Tigray, where a devastating conflict formally ended in late 2022.
The secretary-general is "deeply concerned about the potential impact on civilians and the risk of a return to a wider conflict in a region still working to rebuild and recover," Haq said.
Calling for the full implementation of the Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, Guterres warned that recent gains remain vulnerable and stressed the need to rebuild trust between former adversaries. He reiterated that the United Nations stands ready to work with the African Union and regional partners to help stabilize the region.
Tigray was the epicenter of a brutal two-year conflict between Ethiopia's federal government and forces aligned with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, a conflict that displaced millions and pushed large parts of the population into humanitarian crisis. The fighting formally ended with an African Union–brokered agreement signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in November 2022.
Reports of fresh clashes in recent days have revived fears of a relapse into wider violence, underscoring the fragility of the peace in a region still struggling to recover from one of Africa's deadliest recent conflicts.