The Norwegian Nobel Committee has expressed “deep concern” over fresh fighting in northern Ethiopia, placing new scrutiny on a country led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
The committee's intervention comes amid fears that Ethiopia could again face the conflict that ran from 2020–2022 and killed an estimated 600,000 people. The scale, precise location and trigger of the latest violence have not been specified.
Kristian Berg Harpviken, the secretary of the Nobel Committee, told news agency AFP: “The development in Ethiopia since 2020 and going forward has obviously been very negative, and the latest outbreak of conflict is of course very concerning”.
Ethiopia's earlier war began in November 2020, when Abiy went to war against Tigray province and the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The conflict left a grave human toll, and the renewed fighting has raised concern that the country could return to that period of war.
The UN has called for an immediate halt to fighting in northern Ethiopia. The African Union has issued the same call.
The statements from the two multilateral bodies and the Nobel Committee signal the urgency attached to the new outbreak. There is no information in the available accounts about negotiations, mediation efforts or the current humanitarian effects of the renewed fighting.
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