Bloody conflict in Tigray, one of Ethiopia’s semi-autonomous, ethnically defined provinces in the north of the country, is fuelling support for secession from Ethiopia’s federal state.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched what he called a “law-and-order” operation against the regional government of Tigray, run by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), last November, in response to what he claimed was an “attack” by Tigray’s ruling party on an army compound.

It followed moves by the federal government to bypass the regional government after Tigray rejected Abiy’s decision to postpone elections due to the pandemic and went ahead with its own elections in September.