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People living in Mekelle, the main city in Ethiopia’s war-scarred Tigray, have told the BBC they fear they could soon be dragged into conflict again.<\/p>\n
Growing tensions threaten the fragile peace agreement signed in late 2022, which brought an end to a brutal civil war that claimed an estimated half a million lives.<\/p>\n
Many here are preparing for the worst – either leaving for the federal capital, Addis Ababa, on sold-out flights, or stocking up on emergency supplies and withdrawing their savings from the bank.<\/p>\n
“It’s all because of the anxiety,” one resident said.<\/p>\n
Tseganesh Kassa, an ex-combatant from Shire, a city in central Tigray, badly wounded her leg during the war. She now walks on crutches and requires regular medical treatment.<\/p>\n
She says war “rocked my family”.<\/p>\n
“I am now a disabled person and my family has been [ruined] economically. I don’t want to see that again. Displaced people living in makeshift camps haven’t even been returned to their homes.<\/p>\n
“No-one can handle another [war].”<\/p>\n
Tigray was the epicentre of the conflict.<\/p>\n
The guns were silenced when two of the main warring groups, Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the leading political party in the region, signed a peace agreement.<\/p>\n