How renewed fighting in Tigray could spread across the Horn of Africa

Fighting has erupted again in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region. Tigrayan forces launched a major offensive on September 23 , with fighting also reported in the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara. The escalation threatens the fragile peace established by the 2022 Pretoria peace agreement, which ended the previous Tigray war between Ethiopia's federal government in Addis Ababa and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) . But the central question is bigger than the return of war to Tigray: could the conflict connect with the wars and rivalries already destabilizing the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea? Martin Plaut, British journalist and Horn of Africa expert, argues that the conflict could spill beyond Ethiopia's borders.