Apr 22, 2026, 9:47am EDT
The ruling party in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region reconstituted a parliament that had been disbanded as part of a postwar accord in 2022.
The move threatens to raise tensions between regional adversaries in a country that is still recovering from a civil war that stymied attempts to liberalize one of Africa’s biggest economies.
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front announced the decision in a Facebook post on Sunday, accusing the federal government led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of extending the tenure of the region’s interim administrator without consultation. The parliament in question existed before the war between government troops and the TPLF began in 2020.
Ethiopia’s two-year civil war in the Tigray region led to the deaths of about 600,000 people. The end of the conflict eased the violence, but a power struggle has continued between the TPLF and Abiy’s deputies in the region. Getachew Reda, a top adviser to the prime minister and a former administrator of the Tigray region, said the TPLF’s latest move is “a clear repudiation of the fragile post-conflict arrangement.”
US senators voice concern over lack of funding to halt terrorism in Africa
Updated Apr 22, 2026, 11:21am EDT
US senators from both parties voiced concern that the Trump administration had failed to match its tough rhetoric on fighting terrorism in Africa with adequate resources.
State Department officials speaking at a US Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee hearing on Tuesday defended Washington’s approach as a pragmatic reset from aid-dependent policies. “We will pursue a disciplined, interest-driven strategy rooted in flexible realism,” said Nick Checker, who leads the department’s Africa bureau.
But they faced pushback over ambassadorial vacancies, gutted humanitarian programs, and a lack of transparency. “I cannot accept the premise that there is a match and accord between your actions and your statements,” said Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who chairs the Africa subcommittee, focused on jihadist violence, warning that terrorist groups in Mozambique, the Sahel, and Somalia were “rapidly growing and demand attention.”