CONFLITS | CONFLICTS 
APA -Addis Ababa(Ethiopia)
30 April 2026 | 22:12
The United States is considering freezing the assets of selected Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), former political and military leaders of the Tigray region if the organisation is triggering war that could cause a regional security concern, APA can report on Thursday.
The United States embassy officials on Monday travelled to Mekelle where they spent hours meeting with three key TPLF leaders: Debretsion Gebremichael, Fetlework Gebregziabhier, and Addis Alem Balema.
It came at a time when the TPLF disclosed, through Addis Alem Balema who was speaking this week to the TPLF supporters in the diaspora via phone, that it will finalise a move to reinstate the government which was in place before the Pretoria agreement.
The Pretoria Agreement was reached in November 2024 between the government of Ethiopia and TPLF to end the two-year bloody war.
Recently, the organisation announced that it does not accept the extension of Tadesse Worede’s terms as President of the Tigray Interim Administration.
Opposition leaders like Salsay Weyane Tigray – which is operating in the region – and other politicians in the region are warning that the TPLF move- which will inevitably involve some form of military measure as the interim administration is rejecting their demand – could reignite war in the region.
The source unspecified the identities of the U.S. embassy delegates who met with the leaders. However, it has hinted that three U.S. embassy diplomats might have involved the military attaché.
The TPLF asserts that its campaign is intended to “restore lost territories” – a reference to Wolkait and Raya areas where there had been a movement against what they believe is an “imposed” Tigray identity. It also asserts that its move is to ensure the return of displaced people to their places.
The U.S. officials on the other hand seem to have framed the conversation from the point of view of the United States Security interest in the region.
According to the source, the U.S. officials communicated that TPLF’s decision to reverse the Pretoria Agreement and reinstall the pre-Pretoria TPLF administration could reignite war with a potential to be a regional one.
MG/as/APA