Sept 24 (Reuters) - Residents in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region stocked up on food, cash and basics on Thursday, fearing that renewed fighting could trigger another major war.
Tigrayan forcesseized three local airports and launched attacks in Afar and Amhara regions with allies there this week, in the most serious escalation since a devastating 2020-22 war against Ethiopian government troops.
The United Nations and the European Union called for restraint and a return to the African Union-brokered peace process that had ended a conflict which killed hundreds of thousands of people.
Addis Ababa has accused the region's rulers, theTigray People's Liberation Front, of launching a major offensive. TPLF leaders said they had entered a "defensive" war to counter aggression by the federal government, which they said had used drones, artillery and ground forces against them.
Renewed war in Tigray could further destabilise the Horn of Africa region already unsettled by deteriorating ties between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan's civil war, frictions over Red Sea access, and spillover from Middle East conflicts.
"We are buying almost everything we think could become necessary," a resident inMekelle, capital of Tigray, told Reuters by telephone, describing food hoarding and cash withdrawals.
"Almost all basic necessities are becoming more difficult to obtain or afford," he added, asking not to be named for security reasons. "There is also a growing fear that the situation could deteriorate into siege conditions similar to those experienced during the previous war."
Tigrayan forces patrolled the streets and drones buzzed overhead, the resident said, adding that people were scared food would run out.
Another resident of Adigrat, a town close to the Eritrean border, described panic-buying and emptying shops. "Food shortages are worsening as market shelves sit empty ... essential medicines remain scarce and astronomically expensive," he told Reuters.
"Daily survival has become a constant calculation."
Both residents said they had witnessed young people being forced to join the war effort, sparking fear among the wider population. "I know an 18-year-old boy who lost his father in the last war and they took him by force," the Adigrat resident said, referring to TPLF recruitment.
'DE-ESCALATION NEEDED'
In the 2020-22 war, Tigray was largely cut off from the outside world as communications were severed, and access to food, cash and medicines was severely restricted, pushing hundreds of thousands of people into famine-like conditions.
Power outages were reported in Lalibela, a town in the Amhara region that is a world heritage site known for its medieval rock-hewn churches, with people rushing to withdraw cash, a resident said.
The TPLF has said it acted in self defence to protect the people of Tigray from a "full-scale aggression" against them by the government using ground troops backed by warplanes, drones and artillery.
A government official told Reuters that theTPLF had carried out a premeditated assault on civilian infrastructure by seizing airports in Tigray but stressed that the door to dialogue remained open for any groups that laid down their arms.
Splits emerged within the TPLF, and a hardline faction of the party last year reasserted control over the region, kicking out an interim administration. Ethiopia's military has carried out a series of drone strikes in Tigray.
Most recently, the TPLF formed an alliance with six other armed groupsfrom across Ethiopia, including former enemies from the war, aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Thegovernment has accused Eritrea of financially backing members of the alliance, allegations Asmara has denied.
"Immediate de-escalation is needed," the EU said in a statement, noting both sides' military actions.
"Differences can only be resolved through dialogue and not military action."
(Reporting by Ammu Kannampilly; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
