(Borkena News Desk)
TORONTO, Canada — TPLF executives announced two major decisions following a meeting on Friday in Mekelle, the seat of the Tigray regional state of Ethiopia.
Authorities made the decision as “Tigray regional state”capacity, not as TPLF. The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia dismissed the TPLF as a legal opposition in 2024 after ruling that party regulations were violated.
During the meeting, the TPLF announced its decision to support individuals who fled Tigray “knowingly or unknowingly” and resorted to armed opposition. The party stated that it has prepared a plan to disarm these groups and support their transition to civilian life within the region.
Executives did not name specific groups, though the announcement appears to be a reference to the Tigray Peace Forces (TPF). According to a Tigray Television report, the TPLF decision referenced individuals who left the region beginning in March 2025.
Several contingents of what the TPLF describes as the Tigray Defense Force—a force under its control—crossed into the Afar region of Ethiopia in 2025 with the stated objective of resisting the TPLF through military means. These fighters accused the TPLF of forming a military and political alliance with the Eritrean government and working to reignite conflict in the region.
The 2020–2022 war between the TPLF-led Tigray regional state on one side, and the Abiy Ahmed-led Ethiopian federal government supported by Amhara regional forces and the Eritrean government on the other, claimed over 600,000 lives, according to African Union officials involved in the mediation effort that led to the Pretoria Agreement in November 2022. Regional political and military alliances shifted roughly a year after the agreement, with the Eritrean government and Fano forces now aligning and coordinating with TPLF forces against the Abiy Ahmed-led Ethiopian government.
The TPLF stated that it has prepared a manual to implement the transition of ethnic Tigray armed rebels to peaceful life. While executives announced that individuals choosing peace will receive support—including opportunities to work in the regional public service—they did not specify the details. Notably, the TPLF has recently undertaken forced conscription, which triggered a massive youth migration from the region.
Leadership of the Tigray Peace Forces and other ethnic Tigray opposition groups had not commented on the TPLF’s decision at the time of this writing. These forces continue to operate within the Afar region near the Tigray boundary.
Meanwhile, Tigray regional state executives reported that they also evaluated a fundraising drive to support those impacted by what they call the “invasion” of Tigray—a reference to the federal government’s military operation in the region. At the time, the federal government characterized its military action as a response to a TPLF attack on the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Force. “Implementation of the plan is going well and is free from corruption,” the TPLF executive committee stated.
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